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☆ Hedge funds flee banks, lending-related stocks
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( Carolina Mandl | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

NEW YORK, March 27 (Reuters) - Global hedge funds cut their exposure to U.S. banking stocks to a near 10-year record low and fled lending-sensitive shares amid the banking turmoil that began earlier this month, Goldman Sachs said in its prime services weekly report. An indicator of how bearish or bullish hedge funds are positioned showed that investors became more pessimistic. Their long positions in banking divided by short positions ended the period March 17-23 at 1.28, near 10-year lows. Despite their bearish views of financials, hedge funds scooped up stocks in healthcare and technology, media and telecom. Reporting by Carolina Mandl in New York; Editing by Mark PorterOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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.

☆ First Citizens Bank jumps 50% after deal to acquire assets of collapsed Silicon Valley Bank
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( Morgan Chittum | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

First Citizens Bank stock jumped as much 50% in Monday's trading session. The surge follows news that First Citizens will acquire a large chunk of failed SVB's assets. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) said the Raleigh, North Carolina-based bank will acquire $72 billion worth of SVB assets at a $16.5 billion discount. SVB collapsed on March 10 after a bank run, sending shockwaves through global financial markets and steep sell-off in bank stocks on contagion concerns. "Financial conditions are likely to tighten, increasing the risk of an economic hard landing even if central banks ease off on interest rate hikes," Haefele said in a recent note.

London/Oakland, California CNN —First Citizens Bank is buying most of the business of Silicon Valley Bank, the US tech lender that failed earlier this month. Seventeen former branches of SVB will begin operating as “Silicon Valley Bank, a division of First Citizens Bank,” on Monday, First Citizens said. The FDIC said First Citizens was getting the $72 billion in SVB loans at a discount of $16.5 billion. “The FDIC estimates the cost of the failure of Silicon Valley Bank to its Deposit Insurance Fund to be approximately $20 billion. It had to be rescued a week ago by bigger rival UBS (UBS) in an emergency takeover orchestrated by the Swiss government.

☆ Australia would not allow AT1 debt security holder wipe-out -minister
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

SYDNEY, March 28 (Reuters) - Australian law would not allow regulators to wipe out AT1 tier credit holders while shareholders received some compensation as occurred during the Swiss government-brokered takeover of Credit Suisse by UBS, the assistant treasurer said on Tuesday. It's an entirely different set of circumstances here in Australia," Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones told the Australian Financial Review Banking Summit in Sydney. Swiss regulators wrote down 16 billion Swiss francs ($17.5 billion) of Credit Suisse (CSGN.S) bonds, known as Additional Tier 1 or AT1 debt, to zero as part of a forced rescue merger with UBS (UBSG.S). Under the deal, holders of Credit Suisse AT1 bonds received nothing, while shareholders, who usually rank below bondholders in terms of who gets paid when a bank or company collapses, will receive $3.23 billion. AT1 bonds - a $275 billion sector also known as "contingent convertibles" or "CoCo" bonds - act as shock absorbers if a bank's capital levels fall below a certain threshold.

[1/3] The logo of Swiss bank Credit Suisse is seen in front of a branch office in Bern, Switzerland November 29, 2022. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann/File PhotoWASHINGTON/FRANKFURT, March 26 (Reuters) - Stress in the banking sector is being closely monitored for its potential to trigger a credit crunch, a U.S. Federal Reserve policymaker said on Sunday, as a European Central Bank official also flagged a possible tightening in lending. "What's unclear for us is how much of these banking stresses are leading to a widespread credit crunch. Meanwhile in Europe, the ECB believes that recent banking sector turmoil may result in lower growth and inflation rates, its vice president Luis de Guindos said. Turbulence among banking stocks on both sides of the Atlantic continued into the end of the week, despite efforts by politicians, central banks and regulators to dispel concerns.

☆ First came bank failures. Now comes the House hearing
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-26 | by ( Krystal Hur | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

New York CNN —Federal regulators are being called to testify before the House Financial Services Committee on Tuesday about the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank. What lawmakers are saying: Elected officials want a review of what happened at Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank earlier this month, as well as stricter regulations to prevent it from happening again. Regulators on March 12, just days after SVB collapsed, announced a guarantee of all deposits at the bank and Signature Bank. What to expect: It’s unclear what will come of the hearings on SVB and Signature Bank. Wednesday: The House Financial Services Committee’s hearing on the banking crisis continues for a second day.

☆ Swiss finance minister defends rushed banking takeover
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

"Credit Suisse would not have survived Monday," Karin Keller-Sutter said, explaining the need to find a swift solution for Credit Suisse's woes. Last Sunday it was announced that UBS (UBSG.S) had agreed to buy its rival Credit Suisse (CSGN.S) for 3 billion Swiss francs ($3.23 billion) in stock and agreed to assume up to 5 billion francs ($5.4 billion) in losses in a merger engineered by Swiss authorities to prevent more market turmoil in global banking. Shareholders, for example, who would normally get a say in such a takeover were largely bypassed, which has angered some of them. Keller-Sutter said the Swiss government's executive Federal Council "only went as far as was absolutely necessary to achieve the goal of stabilisation". ($1 = 0.9199 Swiss francs)Reporting by Noele Illien Editing by Giles ElgoodOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Deutsche Bank, Credit Suisse, and what to know about the financial turmoil — and how one company is working to boost the number of women on Wall Street
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-25 | by ( Phil Rosen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The program collaborates with UPenn's Wharton business school, and it teaches college women the fundamentals of markets, portfolio management, and finance. Katherine Jollon Colsher, President and CEO, Girls Who Invest Girls Who InvestKatherine Jollon Colsher is the chief executive officer and president of Girls Who Invest, a nonprofit that aims to help women enter asset management and other careers across Wall Street. Katherine Jollon Colsher: We work exclusively in the buy side, and we do focus exclusively on placing women in internships and frontline investing roles to advance more women portfolio managers. With that, our vision is for 30% of the world's investable capital to be managed by women by 2030. Shares of the German bank tumbled on Friday, as the cost of credit default swaps linked to its bonds shot higher.

☆ UBS offers retention packages to Credit Suisse Asia wealth bankers -sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

In a town hall address in Hong Kong on Friday, Iqbal Khan, UBS's president for global wealth management, also focussed on stabilising the Credit Suisse Asia team and boosting confidence, one of the two sources said. In his address, Khan said the top performers at the Credit Suisse wealth business will get retention packages, the second source said. Spokespeople for Credit Suisse and UBS declined to comment. UBS told Credit Suisse wealth bankers in Zurich this week that it is weighing financial sweeteners for them to stay as it seeks to reassure key staff following the takeover, Reuters reported on Monday. Reporting by Xie Yu in Hong Kong and Scott Murdoch in Sydney; Editing by Sumeet Chatterjee, Christian Schmollinger and Gerry DoyleOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ European bank stocks: UBS, Deutsche sink as fear returns
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Anna Cooban | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

Europe’s Stoxx Europe 600 Banks index, which tracks 42 big EU and UK banks, fell 5% in morning trade. Last week, Switzerland’s biggest bank UBS bought its embattled Swiss rival for 3 billion Swiss francs ($3.25 billion) in an emergency takeover brokered by the Swiss government. The DOJ had sent subpoenas to those employees before UBS took over Credit Suisse, according to the report. “Contagion fears are not yet going away — bank shares are lower again this morning and weighing on broader sentiment. Yesterday we witnessed Deutsche Bank credit default swaps blow out,” Neil Wilson, chief markets analyst at trading platform Markets.com, said in a note Friday.

☆ Get ready for stocks and real estate to crash - and the US economy to crater, 'Rich Dad Poor Dad' author warns
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Theron Mohamed | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Robert Kiyosaki expects stocks, bonds, and real estate to crash as higher interest rates bite. The "Rich Dad Poor Dad" author slammed the Fed for choking growth and eroding the US dollar's value. "Raising interest rates will crash stocks, bonds, real estate, & US dollar," the personal-finance guru and "Rich Dad Poor Dad" author tweeted on Thursday, adding that he expects the vast derivatives market to tank as well. "Saving money & investing in a well diversified portfolio of stocks, bonds, mutual funds & ETFs is risky advice," he tweeted in February. The founder of The Rich Dad Company has been sounding the alarm on an epic market crash and massive recession for more than 18 months.

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.

LONDON, March 23 (Reuters) - Credit Suisse (CSGN.S) bondholders are seeking legal advice after the Swiss regulator ordered 16 billion Swiss francs ($17.5 billion) of Additional Tier-1 (AT1) debt to be wiped out under its rescue takeover by UBS (UBSG.S). Not only did bondholders expect protection, but UBS is paying $3.23 billion to Credit Suisse shareholders. One Paris-based manager of a debt fund that held Credit Suisse AT1s said he had been "spammed" with emails from lawyers. Facing any challenge could be Credit Suisse, its new owner UBS, Swiss regulator FINMA or the Swiss government. It also cited an emergency March 19 ordinance which it said authorised FINMA to instruct Credit Suisse to write off the bonds.

☆ Swiss CoCo litigation may have a broader payoff
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Neil Unmack | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

LONDON, March 23 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Credit Suisse’s (CSGN.S) CoCos are shaping up to be the bondholder litigation case of the century. Investors are in uproar over the government’s decision to wipe out Credit Suisse’s Additional Tier 1 securities over the weekend, while preserving 3 billion Swiss francs for shareholders. They can argue that state support for Credit Suisse did not represent a viability event because the authorities injected liquidity but not capital. Credit Suisse’s AT1 bonds are currently trading at around 6% of par value, rather than the zero the Swiss authorities declared them to be worth. Some Credit Suisse AT1 bondholders are seeking legal advice.

☆ Zurich to legalize consumption and sale of cannabis on trial basis
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Karen Gilchrist | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

A greenhouse at the CBD cannabis production company Phytocann near Ollon, western Switzerland. The Swiss government has approved plans to legalize the sale and consumption of cannabis in Zurich in a trial designed to assess its economic and health benefits. The Swiss government has approved plans to legalize the sale and consumption of cannabis in Zurich in a trial designed to assess the social and economic benefits of regulating the drug. Participants will be expected to answer a questionnaire every six months on their consumption habits and health effects as part of the study, which is conducted in collaboration with the University of Zurich. Evidence from the trial is to be published on a rolling basis from next year.

☆ The Swiss government has put a stop to some Credit Suisse banker bonuses after public backlash over the state-engineered rescue plan
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Huileng Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Switzerland is halting some Credit Suisse banker bonuses. It's a U-turn from before when CS had told staff they would still receive bonuses — even for 2023. The Swiss federal finance ministry said in a statement on Tuesday that it's "temporarily suspending certain forms of variable remuneration for Credit Suisse employees. The Swiss government has been careful about its messaging about the rescue of Credit Suisse, which involves an around $3.25 billion acquisition by UBS, a larger lender. Credit Suisse did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment sent outside regular business hours.

☆ Swiss Miss: Why UBS's deal with Credit Suisse will threaten its hold on rich clients
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Hayley Cuccinello | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

UBS was already the largest private wealth manager in the world before it agreed to buy fellow Swiss bank Credit Suisse. UBS and Credit Suisse are both known for servicing the ultra-rich, though UBS does so on a much larger scale. The acquirer had $2.8 trillion in global wealth management assets as of the end of 2022 while Credit Suisse's totalled $585 billion. But the merger gives UBS and Credit Suisse clients the thing that matters mostBut the acquisition wasn't just about rescuing Credit Suisse but restoring confidence in the Swiss banking system, Ibrahim noted. For one Irish billionaire and Credit Suisse client, this is what matters most.

☆ Asia shares bounce gingerly as bank fears linger
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Tom Westbrook | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) rose 0.4%. Japanese markets were closed for a holiday, which left Treasuries untraded in Asia and lightened currency trade. S&P 500 futures were flat and European futures rose 0.5%. The tense calm follows a Swiss government-backed buyout of Credit Suisse by UBS that seems, for now, to have cauterised concerns over European financial stability. The broader path for rates, meanwhile, is set to become clearer later in the week when the Fed and Bank of England set policy levels.

☆ Asia stocks bounce gingerly but bank fears lurk
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Tom Westbrook | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

U.S. futures rose 0.2% in early Asia trade. A Swiss government-backed buyout of Credit Suisse by UBS has cauterized the immediate concern over European financial stability. But the wipeout of some Credit Suisse bondholders has sent a shockwave through bank debt, and persistent signs of stress at U.S. regional lenders has investors on high alert. Bond markets whipsawed overnight as traders seek to figure out what the bank stress means for rates policy. U.S. interest rate futures have priced in just one more 25 basis point hike before a series of cuts beginning as soon as June.

☆ UBS will become a Swiss wealth behemoth after buying Credit Suisse, but blending the two rivals could get awkward and messy
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Hayley Cuccinello | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

UBS was already a giant in wealth management before it agreed to buy doomed rival Credit Suisse. UBS was already the largest private wealth manager in the world before it agreed to buy fellow Swiss bank Credit Suisse. UBS and Credit Suisse are both known for servicing the ultra-rich, though UBS does so on a much larger scale. The acquirer had $2.8 trillion in global wealth management assets as of the end of 2022 while Credit Suisse's totalled $585 billion. But the merger gives UBS and Credit Suisse clients the thing that matters mostBut the acquisition wasn't just about rescuing Credit Suisse but restoring confidence in the Swiss banking system, Ibrahim noted.

☆ Credit Suisse went the way of Bear Stearns in 2008. But this crisis is different
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Hanna Ziady | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

A sign of Credit Suisse pictured behind a sign of UBS in Zurich on March 18, 2023. The Swiss government said Tuesday it had ordered Credit Suisse to temporarily suspend the payment of some bonuses, including share awards, to bank staff. Credit Suisse is the first “global systemically important” bank to be rescued since 2008. Yet despite its importance to the financial system, most analysts are not expecting Credit Suisse’s demise to mark the beginning of another global financial crisis. “It’s possible that a vicious circle develops, in which credit tightens, the real economy deteriorates, and default rates start to rise,” he said.

ZURICH, March 21 (Reuters) - Swiss authorities imposed curbs on bonus payments for Credit Suisse (CSGN.S) employees, a move that will penalise bankers after a multi-billion-franc state rescue of the bank. Credit Suisse declined to comment. Battered by years of scandals and losses, Credit Suisse for months had been battling a crisis of confidence. The bank's bonus pool shrank by 50% in 2022 to 1 billion Swiss francs, according to its annual report. The Swiss government also instructed its finance ministry to propose further measures on variable remuneration for Credit Suisse.

☆ A retro red, blue, and white Credit Suisse ski cap is attracting ferocious bids online — and prices are now up to $200
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Huileng Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Credit Suisse merch is popping up in online marketplaces following the 167-year-old lender's merger with UBS. Branded gold bars and bags are some of the other Credit Suisse merch available on the platforms. One listing of the Credit Suisse cap started at 80 francs on March 19. Bidding on other Credit Suisse merch — such as this tote bag and a coin bank — also attracted four and five bids, respectively. And while Credit Suisse merch may be attracting buyers, the same cannot be said for the shares of the 167-year-old lender.

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