Stricken Credit Suisse brings forward quarterly results

CREDIT Suisse announced on Tuesday (Apr 18) it was bringing forward the release of its quarterly results to come out the day before those of UBS, which is taking over the stricken Swiss bank.

Credit Suisse will now unveil its first quarter results on Monday and not on Apr 27 as initially planned.

The results will be closely studied for the mass withdrawals that took place as panic engulfed Credit Suisse last month, leading to Switzerland’s second-biggest bank being hastily taken over by its larger domestic rival.

Credit Suisse had already suffered from the withdrawal of an unprecedented 110.5 billion Swiss francs (S$164.3 billion) during the last quarter of 2022 amid market jitters over the bank’s plans for a major restructuring attempt.

Like UBS, Credit Suisse was among 30 international banks deemed too big to fail due to their importance in the global banking architecture.

But the collapse of three US regional lenders in March left Credit Suisse looking like the weakest link in the chain and its share price plunged more than 30 per cent on Mar 15.

The Swiss government, the central bank and the financial regulators then stepped in and strongarmed UBS into a takeover announced on Mar 19 before the markets reopened the following day.

Swiss President Alain Berset told parliament last week that without intervention, the 167-year-old bank would likely have defaulted on Mar 20 or 21.

UBS is due to publish its quarterly results on Apr 25. They will be presented by returning chief executive Sergio Ermotti.

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He ran the bank from 2011 to 2020 and was called back to the controls to oversee the complex Credit Suisse merger.

UBS posted a net profit of US$7.6 billion in 2022 while Credit Suisse suffered a net loss of 7.3 billion Swiss francs. AFP