The UBS chief wants a “360-degree investigation” into what caused Credit Suisse’s bust, he declared on Friday, as his bank is in the process of carrying out a complex takeover of its former rival. “It is very clear, the situation has not developed in the last six weeks, but in the last six or seven years,” said Sergio Ermotti, who took over. ‘UBS in early April and speaking at the Swiss Media Forum in Alfalfa.
On March 19, UBS agreed to buy Credit Suisse for three billion Swiss francs (an equivalent amount in euros), under pressure from Swiss authorities to prevent the collapse of its rival. Without this acquisition, Credit Suisse would probably have been in default since March 20 or 21, Alain Berset, Switzerland’s president, explained during an extraordinary session in parliament.
The merger sealed at the end of May?
Credit Suisse has accumulated scandals in particular since March 2021, when the bank was rocked by the bankruptcy of the British financial company Greensill and the implosion of the US fund Archegos.
Last October a strong restructuring had been launched to try to restore banking, but a movement of panic seized the financial markets in mid-March as a result of the bankruptcy of the US bank SVB, precipitating the fall of this pillar of the Swiss bank. finance.
Sergio Ermotti therefore wants a detailed analysis of the causes of the fall of Credit Suisse, while UBS had only two days to decide on this emergency sealed merger, even if the bank obtained solid guarantees from the Swiss Confederation.
Given the complexity of the task that awaited UBS, the board called Sergio Ermotti back to the helm, who had already been in charge of the bank from 2011 to 2020. UBS initially thought of finalizing the operation at the end of June, but during a financial crisis fair in Zurich last week, Sergio Ermotti hinted that the merger could be sealed sooner, towards the end of May or beginning of June.
Source: BFM TV
