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☆ Credit Suisse’s Message to Clients: ‘No Need to Take Action Right Now’
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( Weilun Soon | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Credit Suisse Group AG has told its bankers to reassure clients that it is business as usual, even as those same employees worry about job security after rival UBS Group AG agreed to buy the troubled Swiss bank. Within 90 minutes of the two banks announcing a $3.24 billion deal on Sunday evening, Credit Suisse gave talking points designed to guide bankers and advisers on how to respond to clients’ queries about the potential merger.

It will change the landscape of banking in Switzerland, where branches of Credit Suisse and UBS are dotted everywhere, sometimes just metres apart. The Credit Suisse rescue, orchestrated with public money, shows banks' continued vulnerability and how their problems can quickly rebound on their home country. But it also removes a competitor to Wall Street, with UBS planning to pare back much of Credit Suisse’s investment bank. During the great financial crash, it was UBS and not Credit Suisse that needed state support. UBS earned $7.6 billion in profit in 2022, while Credit Suisse lost $7.9 billion.

☆ What are AT1 bonds and why are Credit Suisse’s now worthless?
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( Anna Cooban | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

But it is the owners of Credit Suisse’s $17 billion worth of “additional tier one” (AT1) bonds who have been left fully in the cold. David Benamou, chief investment officer at Axiom Alternative Investments, a French wealth management firm with exposure to AT1 bonds, called the decision “quite surprising, not to say … shocking.”What are AT1 bonds? AT1 bonds are also known as “contingent convertibles,” or “CoCos”. It is not the write-down of Credit Suisse’s AT1 bonds that has rocked investors, but the fact that the bank’s shareholders will receive some compensation when bondholders will not. But because Credit Suisse’s demise has not followed a traditional bankruptcy, analysts told CNN, the same rules don’t apply.

☆ Global banking crisis: One big problem down. Too many others left to go
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( David Goldman | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

New York CNN —Credit Suisse, hobbled for decades by mismanagement, scandal and bad bets, finally succumbed to the emerging global banking crisis. In the United States, the banking crisis began nearly two weeks ago with the sudden collapses of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank over a three-day span. That sent shockwaves through the global banking system. Good news and bad newsThe good news: Those loans do not indicate anything inherently wrong with the global banking system. But the banking system and regulators would have to calm fears before that happens system-wide.

☆ Water’s big moment risks getting lost in the weeds
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( Antony Currie | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

The latest is research published last Thursday by the Global Commission on the Economics of Water. The sum, though, is just $140 million, and the U.S. government’s International Development Finance Corporation is pouring in three-quarter of the proceeds. But there is a decent investment case for water without state or supranational support. Without them, water’s big moment risks getting lost in the weeds. Follow @AntonyMCurrie on TwitterCONTEXT NEWSThe United Nations 2023 Water Conference starts on March 22, World Water Day, in New York.

☆ Credit Suisse bump trade looks over-optimistic
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NEW YORK, March 20 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Investors in Credit Suisse’s bombed-out stock are getting a little ahead of themselves. At that level, they’re 7% above the implied value of UBS’s offer, and a wider 13% using the lenders’ U.S.-listed shares, which trade until later in the day. That deal, like UBS’s rescue of Credit Suisse, was also a government-arranged attempt to prop up an ailing bank. Unlike Credit Suisse, Bear Stearns’ shareholders got a vote, giving them leverage to argue for a higher price. Credit Suisse shareholders have little left but hope.

☆ UBS to take over Credit Suisse, central banks act on liquidity
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-19 | by ( Reuters Staff | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +13 min

LONDON/NEW YORK (Reuters) -UBS sealed a deal to buy rival Swiss bank Credit Suisse in an effort to avoid further market-shaking turmoil in global banking, Swiss authorities said on Sunday. FILE PHOTO: The logo of Credit Suisse is pictured in front of the Swiss Parliament Building, in Bern, Switzerland, March 19, 2023. The reports that UBS is acquiring Credit Suisse will likely magnify Credit Suisse’s problems by moving them to UBS... The Credit Suisse issues are not new and needed to be resolved years ago. A legal challenge by Credit Suisse shareholders, who will claim that their property has been illegally confiscated, is guaranteed.

Under the deal being discussed, UBS would only keep parts of Credit Suisse’s investment bank that fill gaps either geographically or in certain product areas where UBS lacks a presence. UBS Group AG has offered to buy rival Credit Suisse for around $1 billion in a deal engineered by Swiss regulators to restore trust in the banking system, according to people familiar with the matter. One option would involve buying the entirety of Credit Suisse and then spinning off its local Swiss operations into an independent entity, the people said. UBS would keep Credit Suisse’s valuable wealth-management business.

FRANKFURT/LONDON, March 19 (Reuters) - Swiss authorities are examining imposing losses on Credit Suisse (CSGN.S) bondholders as part of a rescue of the bank, two sources with knowledge of the matter said on Sunday. Losses on bondholders may need to be larger if Credit Suisse were wound down rather than if it were taken over by UBS, one of the sources said. Authorities are trying to engineer a UBS takeover of Credit Suisse before financial markets reopen on Monday. A $1 billion deal would mean Credit Suisse shareholders getting a fraction of what their shares were worth on Friday. "I would be surprised if Credit Suisse bondholders, including AT1 investors, weren’t made whole.

☆ UBS agrees to buy Credit Suisse for more than $2 billion, Financial Times reports
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

March 19 (Reuters) - UBS (UBSG.S) has agreed to buy Credit Suisse after increasing its offer to more than $2 billion, the Financial Times reported on Sunday. UBS will pay more than 0.50 francs ($0.5401) a share in its own stock, far below Credit Suisse’s closing price of 1.86 francs on Friday, FT reported, citing sources. The Swiss National Bank has agreed to offer a $100 billion liquidity line to Credit Suisse as part of the deal, the FT added, citing two people familiar with the matter. According to the report, UBS has agreed to a softening of a material adverse change clause that would void the deal if its credit default spreads jump. Credit Suisse and UBS declined to comment.

☆ UBS salvages most value from Credit Suisse wreck
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-19 | by ( Liam Proud | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Meanwhile the government will cover up to 9 billion Swiss francs of losses, such as markdowns on Credit Suisse assets, past a certain threshold. A UBS takeover is preferable to the Swiss government nationalising Credit Suisse or winding it down. Follow @liamwardproud on TwitterCONTEXT NEWSUBS will rescue Credit Suisse in a deal worth about 3 billion Swiss francs, Swiss authorities and the two banks said on March 19. Shareholders in Credit Suisse will get one new UBS share for every 22.48 shares they currently hold. Based on UBS’s closing price on March 17 the offer values Credit Suisse shares at 0.76 Swiss francs each, well below the last closing price of 1.86 Swiss francs.

☆ Asia Pacific markets dip after UBS rescue of Credit Suisse
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-19 | by ( Michelle Toh | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Hong Kong CNN —Asia Pacific markets edged slightly lower on Monday morning as investors reacted to news of a Credit Suisse bailout by its bigger rival UBS. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index (HSI) tumbled 1.5% at its opening. On Sunday, Switzerland’s biggest bank, UBS (UBS), agreed to buy Credit Suisse (CS) in an emergency rescue deal aimed at stemming financial market panic unleashed by the failure of two American banks earlier this month. “Volatility in Australian financial markets has picked up,” he told a conference Monday. Dow futures and S&P futures each rose 0.6%, while Nasdaq futures ticked up 0.4%.

Swiss authorities are expected to reach at least a rough deal before markets reopen. UBS Group AG is in talks to take over parts or all of Credit Suisse Group AG , which might involve a government backstop, part of an urgent effort by Swiss and global authorities to restore trust in the banking system, people familiar with the situation said. Credit Suisse took a more-than-$50 billion Swiss National Bank liquidity lifeline this week after concerns deepened about its prospects. The action didn’t do enough to stop the slide in Credit Suisse’s shares or stem the loss of bank deposits, compelling the central bank and Switzerland’s top financial regulator to orchestrate talks with Credit Suisse’s larger rival, UBS.

UBS has long been seen as part of any state-backed solution for Credit Suisse. UBS Group AG is nearing a deal to take over Credit Suisse Group AG, part of an urgent effort engineered by Swiss and global authorities to restore trust in the banking system, people familiar with the situation said. The deal could come together Sunday if not sooner, the people said. Regulators have offered to waive a requirement for customary shareholder votes to expedite the sale, one of the people said. The discussions were fast-moving and a remaining sticking point was the status of who will own Credit Suisse’s substantial Swiss retail arm, the people said.

☆ Confused about the bank meltdown? Here’s how to speak Wall Street
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-18 | by ( Ramishah Maruf | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

New York CNN —Wall Street can seem bewildering, given its sheer amount of jargon, banking terms, and acronyms. When a bank fails, the standard insurance amount is $250,000 per depositor, per insured bank, for each account ownership category. Deposits, withdrawals and bank runsDeposits are cash you put into your bank account, and withdrawals are money that’s taken out. Though it’s pretty rare to enact it, the FDIC used this exception to take over SVB and Signature Bank last week. Discount windowThis is the Fed’s main way to directly lend money to banks and provide them more liquidity and stability.

☆ Credit Suisse faces fateful weekend. Will UBS step up with a rescue bid?
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-18 | by ( Mark Thompson | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

London CNN —The fate of Credit Suisse could be decided in the next 36 hours after a torrid week for Switzerland’s second biggest bank. But by Friday, analysts were speculating that a full-blown rescue would be needed, and reports began to swirl of a possible takeover by its biggest Swiss rival, UBS (UBS). The FT said the boards of UBS and Credit Suisse were expected to meet separately over the weekend. Credit Suisse and UBS both declined to comment to Reuters. “BlackRock is not participating in any plans to acquire all or any part of Credit Suisse, and has no interest in doing so,” a BlackRock spokesperson told CNN.

☆ Exclusive: Some Credit Suisse counterparties curb dealings as bank heads into scenario meetings -sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( Shankar Ramakrishnan Stefania Spezzati Sumeet Chatterjee | Shankar Ramakrishnan | Stefania Spezzati | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Credit Suisse declined to comment. Credit Suisse intends to borrow up to 50 billion Swiss francs ($54 billion) from the Swiss National Bank in what it called "decisive action" to boost its liquidity on Thursday. The five people with direct knowledge of the bank's trading counterparties requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation. Credit Suisse has said that it is a strong, global bank. Among possible scenarios, analysts, bankers and investors speculate that Credit Suisse could sell or wind down some of its existing businesses with a break-up potentially on the cards.

☆ Exclusive: Some Credit Suisse counterparties put curbs on new dealings involving lender -sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( Shankar Ramakrishnan Stefania Spezzati Sumeet Chatterjee | Shankar Ramakrishnan | Stefania Spezzati | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/3] The logo of Societe Generale bank is pictured on an office building in Nantes, France, March 16, 2023. Credit Suisse declined to comment. These five people with direct knowledge of the matter requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation. Societe Generale has maintained existing counterparty positions with Credit Suisse, which it had cut back in recent weeks, but it is not increasing them, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the situation. Another global bank has reduced its unsecured exposure to Credit Suisse, which includes all lending with no collateral, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.

☆ Premarket stocks: The banking meltdown put the Fed in a bind
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( Nicole Goodkind | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

In prior years, the Fed was able to respond “unswervingly” to financial risks by loosening policy without worrying about price stability, he said. The reputation play: The question isn’t about what the Fed should do, it’s about what the Fed will do, said Daco. The central bank has the tools if needed to respond to a liquidity crisis “but this is not what we are seeing,” she told reporters on Thursday. Prior to the current stress in the banking sector, Fed officials were hinting that they would hike rates by half a point. “Every central bank tightening cycle in history has induced some sort of financial strains,” she wrote Thursday.

☆ Credit Suisse puts new dent in Swiss bank armour
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( Lisa Jucca | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The Swiss National Bank’s intervention this week to prop up Credit Suisse (CSGN.S) was anything but uneventful. To rescue the country’s biggest lender, the government in Bern injected 6 billion Swiss francs in capital while the central bank carved off some 40 billion Swiss francs of toxic assets into a special purpose vehicle. The SNB made more than 5 billion Swiss francs from winding down UBS’s bad bank and the state booked over 1 billion Swiss francs of gains on its equity stake. Nervous clients pulled more than 100 billion Swiss francs from the Zurich-based bank in the fourth quarter of last year and may be hesitant to return. Switzerland’s two biggest banks, UBS and Credit Suisse, each had total asset exposure of between 120% and 140% of the country’s GDP.

☆ DBRS Morningstar cuts Credit Suisse credit rating to 'BBB'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

March 16 (Reuters) - DBRS Morningstar became the first global rating agency to cut Credit Suisse’s credit score on Thursday, less than a day after a major share price plunge saw Switzerland’s central bank provide emergency support to the lender. DBRS downgraded the issuer rating of the bank to 'BBB' as it "continues to report missteps and compliance failures, resulting in a visible weakening of the franchise" and said the parent company's "ability to restore stakeholders’ confidence" is concerning. Credit Suisse's share tumble on Wednesday had threatened to spiral into a wider banking crisis, but a lifeline from the Swiss National Bank helped ease fears and at least temporarily stabilize the market. Reporting by Rodrigo CamposOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ 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.

☆ Credit Suisse’s $54 billion Alpine lifeline: podcast
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Follow on Apple, Google or Spotify. Listen on the Reuters app. Can Switzerland’s blank check for Credit Suisse soothe markets? Abortion pill under threat in Texas lawsuit. Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Bank fears escalate as Wall Street wonders: Who’s next?
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( Allison Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Credit Suisse has been flailing for years, hurt by risk-management missteps that tarnished its reputation with clients and investors, and cost several top executives their jobs. The question on everyone’s mind is: What will happen to Credit Suisse, and who will be the next to fall? Fitch Ratings and S&P on Wednesday both downgraded the bank’s credit rating over concerns that depositors could pull their cash despite federal intervention. PacWest Bank (PACW) was down 12%, and shares of other regional banks fell again, too. Bottom line: Credit Suisse will probably need to be taken over (the most likely outcome, according to JPMorgan) or bailed out.

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