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☆ Credit Suisse: Why it’s struggling and why that’s a big deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( Nathaniel Meyersohn | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Credit Suisse is one of the biggest financial institutions in the world. “Credit Suisse is much more globally interconnected … not just a Swiss problem but a global one.”Why is Credit Suisse struggling now? That engulfed other banks facing big problems, including Credit Suisse, which has been a slow-moving car wreck for decades. In 2014, Credit Suisse pleaded guilty to federal charges that it illegally allowed some U.S. clients to evade their taxes. Credit Suisse acted as an underwriter when the company went public on the Nasdaq in 2019.

☆ Factbox: FACTBOX Credit Suisse's troubles - spies, money laundering and central bank cash
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Lescaudron was convicted by a Swiss court in 2018 of having forged the signatures of former clients, including Ivanishvili, over an eight-year period. Credit Suisse has said it expects the case, which it is appealing, to cost it around $600 million. The hedge fund's highly leveraged bets on certain technology stocks backfired and the value of its portfolio with Credit Suisse plummeted. Swiss regulators have rebuked Credit Suisse for "serious" failings in its handling of the multi-billion dollar business with Greensill. In response, Credit Suisse said it condemned the spying and had taken "decisive" steps to improve its governance and strengthen compliance.

☆ Factbox: Credit Suisse's troubles - spies, money laundering and takeover
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Credit Suisse has said it expects the case, which it is appealing, to cost it around $600 million. The hedge fund's highly leveraged bets on certain technology stocks backfired and the value of its portfolio with Credit Suisse plummeted. Swiss regulators have rebuked Credit Suisse for "serious" failings in its handling of the multi-billion dollar business with Greensill. Switzerland's financial regulator said Credit Suisse had misled it about the scale of the spying. In response, Credit Suisse said it condemned the spying and had taken "decisive" steps to improve its governance and strengthen compliance.

☆ Burkina's film festival in full swing despite fighting on its doorstep
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The festival's delegate-general, Alex Moussa Sawadogo, said Burkina Faso had been dealing with the insecurity for several years, but it remained important to show that culture and its people continue to exist. "Organising an event like FESPACO is to show the world that Burkina Faso is a country that wants to continue writing stories of world cinema," he told Reuters. In total, 170 films are being screened, including 15 feature films and about 30 short films in competition. In the feature films category, movies from 13 countries are competing, including the movie Sira, directed by homegrown talent Apolline Traoré. Despite costly international efforts to contain it, the insurgency has spread to neighbouring countries such as Burkina Faso and Niger, killing thousands of people and driving over 2 million from their homes.

ABIDJAN/OUAGADOUGOU, Feb 20 (Reuters) - France's defence minister pledged on Monday to boost military support to Ivory Coast, as Paris adjusts its strategy in West Africa after neighbouring Burkina Faso ordered French troops to leave and vowed to curb a worsening Islamist insurgency solo. The two jihadist groups have taken over swathes of land and displaced millions of people in Burkina, Mali and Niger. Burkina Faso has denied an allegation that Russian mercenaries are in the country, but its prime minister in December said it would welcome Russia's help in its fight against the insurgents. OTHER PARTNERSThe countries' rejection of French military help could allow other states in the region to put themselves forward as more reliable partners to Western powers. "Ivory Coast and Benin have the will to fight against terrorism," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

☆ Burkina Faso marks official end of French military operations on its soil
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-19 | by ( Thiam Ndiaga | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] Head of Burkina Faso's army Colonel Adam Nere receives a flag from French Lieutenant-Colonel Louis Lecacheur during a military handover ceremony to officially mark the end of French military operations on Burkinabe soil, at the base of Kamboincin, Burkina Faso February 18, 2023. Burkina Faso's General Staff of the Armed Forces/Handout via REUTERSOUAGADOUGOU, Feb 19 (Reuters) - France and Burkina Faso have officially marked the end of French military operations in the West African nation, the Burkinabe armed forces said on Sunday, after a flag-lowering ceremony at the French special forces' camp a day earlier. In a statement, the General Staff of the Burkinabe Armed Forces said it had participated with the leadership of France's Sabre special forces in "a solemn flag-lowering ceremony marking the official end of the Task Force's operations on Burkinabe soil". The French armed forces ministry did not respond to a request for comment. The departure of the some 400 French special forces from Burkina Faso follows a sharp deterioration in relations that included Ouagadougou asking France to recall its ambassador.

☆ Life's no longer rosy at Senegal's Pink Lake after floods
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Ngouda Dione | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/6] A general view of the submerged tourism businesses at the Pink Lake (Lac Rose), officially known as Lake Retba, after extreme floods washed away salt mounts and contaminated the lake and turned its famous waters from pink to green, in Niaga, near Dakar, Senegal, January 17, 2023. REUTERS/ Zohra BensemraNIAGA, Senegal, Jan 24 (Reuters) - On the shore of Senegal's Pink Lake, salt farmer Pape Sira Ba has raked in what he fears may be his last harvest. Nearby, the new wide channel spewed brownish-green water into the lake whose shore was dotted with dead fish. The flooding destroyed 7,000 tonnes of salt worth around 420 million CFA francs ($696,000), according to the Lake Retba salt extractors association. "The over-salinisation of the water also allowed visitors to float on top of the lake like in the Dead Sea.

☆ Over 60 women, children freed in Burkina Faso after kidnapping
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Thiam Ndiaga | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

OUAGADOUGOU, Jan 20 (Reuters) - Sixty-six women and children kidnapped by armed assailants in northern Burkina Faso last week have been freed, national broadcaster Radiodiffusion Télévision du Burkina (RTP) said on Friday. The mass kidnapping was unprecedented in Burkina Faso, which is facing a violent Islamist insurgency that spread from neighbouring Mali in 2015. Security forces staged a rescue operation and found 27 adult women and 39 babies, children and young girls in the adjacent Centre-North province. Burkina Faso is one of several countries in West Africa battling a rampant insurgency with links to al Qaeda and Islamic State. Frustration over the authorities' failure to restore security and protect civilians were contributing factors to military coups in Burkina Faso and Mali.

☆ French minister says France still committed to Burkina Faso despite tension
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Benoit TessierOUAGADOUGOU, Jan 10 (Reuters) - A French minister said on Tuesday her government would not stop supporting Burkina Faso in its fight against Islamist militants and wished to remain involved despite growing anti-French sentiment and diplomatic tensions. Relations between France and Burkina Faso, a former French colony, have deteriorated following two military coups this year that were partly spurred by local authorities' failure to protect civilians from jihadist attacks. Tensions flared last month, when the Burkina Faso government requested the replacement of France's ambassador. Protests by opponents of the French military presence surged this year, partly linked to perceptions that France has not done enough to improve security. Zacharopoulou said French troops would remain in Burkina Faso "as long as their presence is desired".

☆ Ten killed after Burkina Faso bus hits landmine on Christmas Day
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

DAKAR, Dec 26 (Reuters) - At least 10 people were killed and five others injured when a passenger bus triggered a landmine in eastern Burkina Faso on Christmas Day, the government said in a statement on Monday. The bus was travelling from the market town of Fada N'Gourma around 220 km (136 miles) from the capital Ouagadougou, to the border town of Kantchari near neighbouring Niger. The insurgents control swathes of territory in Burkina Faso. Since 2015 they have carried out raids and blockades of several towns in the north and eastern regions of the country, killing more than 2,000 people and displacing nearly 2 million. Reporting by Thiam Ndiaga; Writing by Bate Felix; Editing by Hugh Lawson and David EvansOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ U.N. says Burkina Faso has no grounds to expel senior official
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

OUAGADOUGOU, Dec 24 (Reuters) - The United Nations on Saturday said Burkina Faso had no grounds for ordering senior U.N. official Barbara Manzi to leave the country and that the doctrine of "persona non grata" could not be applied to her. "Only the Secretary-General... has the authority to decide, after careful investigation, with respect to the withdrawal of any United Nations official." Reuters was not immediately able to verify whether Manzi, an Italian national, was still in Burkina Faso in Saturday. The U.N. provides some essential services in Burkina Faso, including supplying food to thousands of malnourished children as insecurity has crippled local economies, caused mass hunger, and restricted access for aid organisations. The Secretary-General reiterated the U.N.'s commitment to continue engaging with Burkina Faso's transitional authorities and support the country.

☆ Burkina Faso summons Ghanaian ambassador over Wagner allegations
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

OUAGADOUGOU, Dec 16 (Reuters) - Burkina Faso summoned the Ghanaian ambassador on Friday morning for "explanations" after Ghana's president alleged that Burkina Faso had hired the Russian mercenary group Wagner, Burkina Faso's foreign ministry said. Burkina Faso has now entered into an arrangement to go along with Mali in employing the Wagner forces there," Akufo-Addo said, adding that it was a distressing development for Ghana. Akufo-Addo also alleged that Burkina Faso had offered Wagner a mine as payment. In a statement issued after the meeting with the ambassador, Burkina Faso's foreign ministry said it had "expressed disapproval" about the statements made by the Ghanaian president. Burkina Faso also recalled its ambassador from Ghana for a meeting, the spokesperson said.

☆ The evolution of Credit Suisse over 166 years
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

1990The group takes a controlling stake in U.S. investment bank CS First Boston and buys Bank Leu, a Swiss private bank. 1997A reorganisation turns CS Holding into Credit Suisse Group and drops the SKA name; it also buys insurer Winterthur, a strategic partner. 2002A reorganisation creates two units: Credit Suisse Financial Services and Credit Suisse First Boston; two years later it splits into three units by adding Winterthur. 2005Credit Suisse and CSFB merge and stop using the Credit Suisse First Boston brand name. In March, U.S. investment fund Archegos implodes, saddling Credit Suisse with a $5.5 billion loss.

☆ Credit Suisse begins perilous ride to right place
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Liam Proud | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

LONDON, Oct 27 (Reuters Breakingviews) - After years of botched strategies, Credit Suisse (CSGN.S) has finally hit the nail on the head. He’s also in exclusive talks with Apollo Global Management (APO.N) and PIMCO about selling the securitisation business, which bundles and slices mortgages for credit investors. It could fall even further if Credit Suisse eventually hives off the carved-out dealmaking business it is rebranding as CS First Boston, under former Citigroup (C.N) rainmaker Michael Klein. Those moves solve the central problem that has plagued Credit Suisse for years, and which former CEOs Thomas Gottstein and Tidjane Thiam failed to answer. The deposit outflow saw Credit Suisse breach liquidity requirements set by regulators of its legal subsidiaries.

☆ Factbox: Who's in and out in Credit Suisse's day of reckoning
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Pamela Barbaglia | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Oct 27 (Reuters) - Credit Suisse's (CSGN.S) latest shake-up has led to the promotion of some senior executives to more powerful roles while others are leaving. IN:MICHAEL KLEINA former Citigroup Inc (C.N) dealmaker, Klein has been named adviser to Credit Suisse CEO Ulrich Körner. He was hired by former Credit Suisse boss Tidjane Thiam in 2017 to run equity derivatives globally. A Spanish national, Lopez Lorenzo joined Credit Suisse in 2015 from JPMorgan (JPM.N) where he was a managing director in New York. The 47-year-old banker was part of a new crop of executives who had been tasked to restore Credit Suisse's reputation after a series of scandals.

☆ Explainer: Credit Suisse in spotlight ahead of strategy shift
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

WHY IS CREDIT SUISSE IN THE SPOTLIGHT? A spying scandal forced then-CEO Tidjane Thiam to quit in 2020, and Switzerland's financial regulator said Credit Suisse had misled it about the scale of its surveillance. His successor Thomas Gottstein lasted until July 2022, when Credit Suisse turned to restructuring expert Ulrich Koerner as CEO and launched a second strategic review within a year. Credit Suisse is looking to sell the Savoy Hotel in central Zurich, which could be worth 400 million Swiss francs. Since its foundation in 1856, Credit Suisse has played a central role in the history and development of Switzerland.

☆ Credit Suisse's investment bankers are bracing for another case of 'rinse and repeat' as they await the bank's second strategic review in a year. Insiders describe an environment of uncertainty and cy
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( Aaron Weinman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Investment bankers at Credit Suisse are stuck in limbo and are bracing for heavy cuts as the bank rolls out another strategic review. Among the plans reported to be under consideration are a three-way split of the investment bank, according to the Financial Times. This review of the investment banking business is Credit Suisse's second in a year. Credit Suisse will update the market when it reports third-quarter results on October 27. Bracing for changeThe investment bank was known as Credit Suisse First Boston until 2005.

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