Swiss authorities brokering Credit Suisse's (CSGN.S) rescue merger with UBS (UBSG.S) have said 16 billion Swiss francs ($17 billion) of its Additional Tier 1 (AT1) debt will be written down to zero.
That puts holders of the AT1 bonds lower in priority than even investors who hold an equity stake in Credit Suisse and can expect to get 0.76 Swiss francs per share.
The shock realisation reverberated through Asian markets on Monday as traders hurried to reprice bank debt, and pushed bank stocks down.
Asian AT1 bonds were down 4-5 points, while European ones were down 10 points, he said.
But you did enter this thing believing that you'd be senior to the equity holders, that's the thing that people are worried about."