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☆ Credit Suisse Violated Plea Deal in Tax Case, Senate Report Says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Richard Rubin | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON— Credit Suisse Group AG violated the terms of a 2014 criminal plea agreement in which it promised to stop helping Americans hide assets from the U.S. tax authorities, according to a Senate report released Wednesday. The Senate Finance Committee’s Democratic staff said Credit Suisse failed to report bank transfers tied to what it says may be an ongoing criminal tax conspiracy involving more than $100 million held by a family with dual citizenship in the U.S. and Latin America.

☆ Morning Bid: Alibaba fires up market mood
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

An unprecedented revamp of Chinese tech conglomerate Alibaba Group, which analysts believe to have the blessings of local regulators, pushed up Alibaba's U.S.-listed stock, and then its Hong Kong shares on Wednesday. Companies in China's internet, private education and property sectors have lost billions of dollars in market value in recent years as the country's regulators cracked down on their operations. Reuters GraphicsAlthough a lacklustre 0.6% rise in Asia's main stock market gauge, led by Hong Kong tech names, shows that animal spirits haven't returned yet, there's hope for investors who have been left licking their wounds from recent market declines, especially in bank and tech stocks. Global investor confidence remains fragile, with the European Central Bank (ECB) saying that recent volatility highlights the need for greater regulatory scrutiny. Overnight, a survey showed that U.S. consumer confidence unexpectedly increased in March despite recent financial market turmoil, but Americans still expect inflation to remain elevated over the next year.

☆ Deutsche Bank Selloff Focuses Attention on Credit-Default Swap Market
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Anna Hirtenstein | Patricia Kowsmann | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Last week’s selloff in Deutsche Bank AG shares and bonds has drawn attention from regulators—and sparked broad debate about whether credit-default swaps caused the market stress, or simply reflected investor unease. The instruments are derivatives that effectively insure the holder against a corporate default. The cost of insuring Deutsche Bank’s debt against default in this way surged late last week, helping fuel an 8.5% decline in the bank’s Frankfurt-traded stock on Friday. The episode had echoes of a social-media frenzy around Credit Suisse Group AG last fall, in which default-swap pricing also fed into a broader loss of confidence.

☆ UBS Brings Back Sergio Ermotti as CEO
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Serena Ng | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Sergio Ermotti in Switzerland last year. UBS Group AG said its former leader Sergio Ermotti will return as chief executive, as the Swiss banking giant moves into a new era with its takeover of Credit Suisse Group AG. Mr. Ermotti, who previously ran UBS for nine years, will start on April 5 after the bank’s annual general meeting, it said.

☆ Saudi Chairman of Credit Suisse’s Largest Investor Resigns
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( Summer Said | Dave Sebastian | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

DUBAI—The chairman of Credit Suisse Group AG’s largest shareholder has resigned less than two weeks after his comments set off a panic with the European lender’s shareholders that eventually led the Swiss government to engineer a takeover by rival UBS Group AG. Ammar al-Khudairy, the chairman of Saudi National Bank, is leaving for personal reasons and will be succeeded by Chief Executive Saeed Mohammed al-Ghamdi , the bank said on Monday. It didn’t say whether the resignation was tied to Mr. Khudairy’s comments on SNB’s investment in Credit Suisse.

Regulators shuttered Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and Signature Bank, the second and third largest closures in the nation's history. Authorities then took unprecedented action to backstop the collapsed companies' deposits and introduced new measures to shore up confidence. The ups and downs may have helped banks' trading desks as choppy markets fueled client activity. While billions of dollars of those deposits landed at the biggest banks, some analysts said the influx was unlikely to provide a major boost to their earnings. Investors are becoming increasingly focused on the rising cost of funding for banks, which could weigh on earnings, analysts at Piper Sandler wrote in a note last week.

☆ What Are AT1 Bonds, and Why Are They Risky?
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-25 | by ( Alana Pipe | Nate Rattner | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Swiss regulators announced on March 19 a wipeout of more than $17 billion of Credit Suisse Group AG’s additional Tier 1 bonds, or AT1s, shocking investors as shareholders were paid out before some bondholders. AT1 bonds deliver higher yields than many comparable assets, which makes them attractive to investors willing to take the risk. AT1 bonds are popular among European banks as a way to build up safety buffers. Following the 2008 financial crisis, many countries in Europe signed on to a regulatory framework called Basel III, under which they passed laws requiring large banks to maintain a financial cushion for protection during a downturn.

☆ ECB to reassure EU leaders on bank stability, call for EU deposit insurance
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Jan Strupczewski | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

"She will ask the leaders to complete their Banking Union and go forward on the Capital Markets Union." EU DEPOSIT INSURANCE NEEDED TO COMPLETE BANKING UNIONEU leaders are likely to get a similar message on banks from the chairman of euro zone finance ministers Paschal Donohoe. "Completing the Banking Union" is EU code for introducing a European Deposit Insurance Scheme (EDIS), the last missing element from the project launched in 2012. The Banking Union is already two-thirds complete. The Capital Markets Union was launched in 2015 to facilitate access to private capital by EU companies, which now mainly depend on bank loans for any financing.

☆ The Swiss claim the U.S. banking crisis ultimately toppled Credit Suisse. But are they right?
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Elliot Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Pascal Mora | Bloomberg | Getty Imageswatch nowHowever, the downward spiral of Credit Suisse's share price and mounting asset outflows were underway long before the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank earlier this month. Swiss regulator FINMA has come under fire for allowing the situation to deteriorate as the bank spent years mired in losses and scandal. Mark Yallop, chairman of the U.K.'s Financial Markets Standards Board and former U.K. CEO at UBS, told CNBC on Tuesday that he agreed with the broad assessment that Credit Suisse's downfall was "idiosyncratic." "It's unfortunate that the problems with some of the smaller U.S. banks in the last two or three weeks happened at the same time as this issue with Credit Suisse but the two are completely different and very largely unrelated," he said. By contrast, the Swiss banking and regulatory system has come under fire.

Executives at UBS Group AG, which until recently competed with rival Credit Suisse Group AG to win business from Asia’s biggest companies and richest people, must now tackle the thorny question of how to combine the two banks in the region. That is just one conundrum facing senior executives at the banking giant following its acquisition of Credit Suisse for $3.25 billion, an emergency deal orchestrated by the Swiss government. But it is a critical one for a bank that has long seen Asia as a key growth market, particularly for wealth management—where banks offer services to the ultrarich.

☆ Investors cut bearish bets on most Asian FX as policy rate bets shift
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Savyata Mishra | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The currency firmed on Thursday, following dovish comments from the U.S. Federal Reserve that reined in expectations for more interest rate hikes and lifted sentiment for other Asian currencies. The dollar index slipped to near seven-week lows following the Fed's latest policy statement that no longer says that "ongoing increases" in rates will likely be appropriate. Bearish bets on Singapore's dollar eased to their lowest since Nov. 18, 2021. Short bets on the Indonesian rupiah and the Indian rupee rose slightly from a fortnight ago, while sentiment toward South Korea's won improved. The poll uses estimates of net long or short positions on a scale of minus 3 to plus 3.

March 22 (Reuters) - Citigroup Inc (C.N) CEO Jane Fraser on Wednesday expressed confidence in U.S. banks after a series of closures rattled investors and fueled turmoil in global financial markets. "The banking system is pretty sound," and large and regional banks are well-capitalized, Fraser told the Economic Club of Washington D.C. on Wednesday. "This is not a credit crisis. In the past two weeks, two U.S. banks collapsed, Credit Suisse Group AG (CSGN.S) was taken over by Swiss rival UBS Group AG (UBSG.S) and America's biggest banks agreed to deposit $30 billion in another ailing firm, First Republic Bank (FRC.N). Reporting by Lananh Nguyen and Saeed Azhar; Editing by Sandra Maler and Sonali PaulOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Swiss regulator says central bank loan to Credit Suisse justified AT1 bond writedown
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Elliot Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Swiss regulator FINMA on Thursday defended its decision to instruct Credit Suisse to write down its AT1 bonds — a controversial part of the lender's emergency sale to UBS — saying it was a "viability event." The regulator said the loan Credit Suisse received from the Swiss National Bank last week, backed by the federal government, meant the conditions for a writedown had been met. The regulator instructed Credit Suisse to write down 16 billion Swiss francs of AT1 bonds, widely regarded as relatively risky investments, to zero, while equity shareholders will receive payouts at the stock's takeover value. "As Credit Suisse received extraordinary liquidity assistance loans secured by a federal default guarantee on 19 March 2023, these contractual conditions were met for the AT1 instruments issued by the bank." The Swiss federal government enacted an emergency ordinance to guarantee the additional liquidity assistance from the SNB to Credit Suisse, in order to ensure the successful implementation of the UBS takeover.

But combining Credit Suisse into UBS could take much longer, potentially months, because the deal needs approval from regulators in tens of countries, the people said, seeking anonymity given the sensitivity of the matter. Spokespeople for UBS and Credit Suisse declined to comment. The longer the deal takes to close, the harder it will be for Credit Suisse to hold on to its business as the uncertainty erodes confidence in the lender. Bank of America's electronic stocks desk had halted trading with a desk at Credit Suisse that uses computer-led strategies, an email seen by Reuters on Monday said. Bloomberg News reported on Thursday that Wall Street banks and European firms are lifting hiring freezes to lure staff from Credit Suisse.

NEW YORK, March 23 (Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Thursday denied Archegos Capital Management LP founder Bill Hwang's effort to dismiss an indictment accusing him of fraud in the collapse of his once-$36 billion firm. U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein in Manhattan rejected arguments that the 11-count indictment should be tossed because prosecutors deceived Hwang into cooperating with their probe and because Hwang's trading activity had been lawful. Authorities said Hwang concealed the size and riskiness of his bets by spreading his borrowing among several banks. When the prices of some stocks fell, Hwang was unable to meet margin calls, leading banks to dump stocks backing his swaps, and causing losses for Archegos and others. The case is U.S. v. Hwang et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No.

Fed Chairman Jerome Powell sought to reassure investors about the soundness of the banking system, saying that the management of Silicon Valley Bank "failed badly," but that the bank's collapse did not indicate wider weaknesses in the banking system. "These are not weaknesses that are running broadly through the banking system," he said, adding that the takeover of Credit Suisse seemed to have been a positive outcome. The Federal Open Market Committee policy statement also said the U.S. banking system is "sound and resilient." The much-anticipated rate cut by the Fed, which had delivered eight previous rate hikes in the past year, sought to balance the risk of rampant inflation with the threat of instability in the banking system. The banking sector has been in turmoil after California regulators on March 10 closed Silicon Valley Bank in the largest U.S. bank failure since the 2008 financial crisis.

ZURICH—The chairman of Switzerland’s largest bank received an urgent call last week. UBS Group AG needed to rescue its failing rival, Credit Suisse Group AG. For Switzerland, the stakes verged on existential. Its economic model and national identity, cultivated over centuries, were built on safeguarding the world’s wealth. Switzerland itself needed rescuing.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose 64 cents, or 0.9%, to $70.31. The U.S. dollar fell to its lowest level since Feb. 3 against a basket of other currencies, supporting oil demand by making crude cheaper for buyers using other currencies. "The big story here is that build ... in crude, which is enough to get us to the 22-month high in crude oil storage. We just have a lot of crude oil in storage and it's not going to go away anytime soon," said Bob Yawger at Mizuho, a bank. An emergency rescue of Credit Suisse Group AG (CSGN.S) over the weekend helped revive oil prices.

☆ Dollar muted as traders await Fed rate decision
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Ankur Banerjee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The U.S. dollar index , which measures the currency against six peers, was at 103.19, just above the five-week low of 102.99 touched overnight. Markets are now pricing in about a 15% chance of the Fed not increasing rates, with a roughly 85% chance of a 25 basis point hike, showed the CME FedWatch tool. Just a month earlier, the market was pricing in a 24% chance of a 50 basis point hike. Such circumstances would usually be ripe for a return to a 50 basis point hike were it not for worries over financial stability, he said. The Australian dollar rose 0.36% to $0.6694, while the New Zealand dollar gained 0.11% to $0.6199.

☆ Credit Suisse Write-Off Upends European Bank Capital Bonds
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Josh Mitchell | Anna Hirtenstein | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Some $17 billion of riskier Credit Suisse bonds were written down to zero as part of its emergency takeover. Switzerland’s move to wipe out $17 billion of Credit Suisse Group AG bonds has prompted investors to reassess a market integral to the safety and resilience of Europe’s banking system. The Credit Suisse bonds that were written down as part of its takeover by UBS Group AG were known as AT1s, or Additional Tier 1 bonds. These instruments exploded in popularity in Europe over the past decade and were seen as a way to build buffers that could protect banks in times of trouble without having to tap taxpayer funds.

☆ Dollar subdued ahead of Fed rate decision
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Ankur Banerjee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The U.S. dollar index , which measures the currency against six peers, was at 103.22, just above the five-week low of 102.99 touched overnight. Markets are now pricing in about a 14% chance of the Fed not increasing rates, with a roughly 86% chance of a 25 basis point hike, showed the CME FedWatch tool. Just a month earlier, the market was pricing in a 24% chance of a 50 basis point hike. Such circumstances would usually be ripe for a return to a 50 basis point hike were it not for worries over financial stability, he said. The Australian dollar rose 0.04% to $0.667, while the New Zealand dollar fell 0.16% to $0.618.

☆ UBS likely to shrink Credit Suisse's $10 bln shipping portfolio -WSJ
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 22 (Reuters) - UBS Group AG (UBSG.S) will likely shrink Credit Suisse Group's (CSGN.S) $10 billion shipping portfolio that it inherited as part of its emergency takeover on Sunday, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday. UBS could also try to sell the portfolio, but doing so could prompt owners to move their accounts elsewhere, the WSJ reported, citing people familiar with the matter. About half of the shipping portfolio involves Greek ship owners that use their deposits in the bank's wealth management arm as collateral to finance new ships, the report added. Credit Suisse did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Swiss authorities announced last week that UBS had agreed to buy its rival Credit Suisse in a merger aimed at containing a crisis of confidence that was spreading through global banking.

DUBAI—Riding an oil-price boom last year, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman directed government-backed Saudi National Bank to make a $1.5 billion investment in Credit Suisse Group AG that his financial advisers harbored doubts about, according to people familiar with the matter. Now, the Saudi investment is almost wiped out after Credit Suisse’s emergency merger with UBS Group AG. Credit Suisse’s meltdown also erased billions of dollars in investments made by Qatar’s sovereign fund and the Saudi-based Olayan family, making the Persian Gulf one of the biggest losers from a slide in financial stocks since the collapse of two U.S. banks last week.

California banking regulators on March 10 closed Silicon Valley Bank in the largest U.S. bank failure since the 2008 financial crisis. Kurt Gwynne, an attorney for the FDIC as receiver for Silicon Valley Bank, disputed at Tuesday's hearing that regulators had done anything improper. Destroyed SVB (Silicon Valley Bank) logo is seen in this illustration taken March 13, 2023. Glenn said he was prepared to allow SVB Financial to use up to $100 million for investment activity. Silicon Valley Bank was SVB Financial's largest asset, accounting for more than $15.5 billion of SVB Financial's $19.7 billion in total assets.

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