Switzerland Preparing “Emergency Measures” to Fast Track Acquisition of Credit Suisse by UBS
- The financial regulator of Switzerland, FINMA, and the Swiss National Bank (SNB), are taking emergency measures regarding Credit Suisse’s future.
- SNB and FINMA aim to fast track the acquisition of the bank by UBS, Switzerland’s largest bank, by bypassing usual laws that require stakeholders’ votes.
- The two entities worked with each other to “reach a regulatory agreement” on Saturday and go ahead with the acquisition deal, bypassing a six-week waiting period.
- SNB and FINMA “regard a deal” with UBS as the “only option” to prevent a “collapse in confidence” in Credit Suisse.
- BlackRock posted via Twitter that it is not participating in the acquisition of Credit Suisse and has no intention of doing so.
The US banking structure started collapsing as Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) filed for bankruptcy earlier this week, and many banks found themselves under regulatory watch. However, President Joe Biden has reaffirmed that the situation is safe and asked citizens not to lose faith in the US. Interestingly, Credit Suisse, a global investment bank and financial services firm founded and based in Switzerland, also found itself in trouble amid worsening global macroeconomic conditions.
According to a report from the Financial Times on March 18, the financial markets regulator of Switzerland and the Swiss National Bank (SNB) believe that the “only option” to prevent a “collapse in confidence” in Credit Suisse is to fast track the acquisition of the banking institution by UBS, the largest bank in Switzerland.
In order to accelerate the acquisition, Switzerland is preparing to use “emergency measures” and finalize the takeover before the “markets open Monday.” The measures allowed Credit Suisse and UBS to bypass the usual Swiss laws, allowing the deal to take place without the shareholder approval vote.
It is crucial to note that in a takeover deal, the usual regulatory policies in Switzerland require a vote from the shareholders and a “six-week” consultation period for shareholders “to consult on the acquisition.” The emergency measures taken by the regulator have bypassed these laws, according to the Financial Times report.
Furthermore, the Swiss National Bank (SNB) and the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) worked with each other to “reach regulatory agreement” on Saturday. The international counterparts were told that SNB and FINMA “regard a deal” with UBS as the “only option” to prevent a “collapse in confidence” in Credit Suisse.
It is also crucial to note that BlackRock, the largest asset management company in the world, announced on the social media platform Twitter that “it is not participating in any plans to acquire all or any part of Credit Suisse, and has no interest in doing so.”
Moreover, UBS plans to proceed with the acquisition in agreement with Credit Suisse’s plans to downsize its investment bank, with two of the people “briefed on the situation,” stating that the “combined entity will make up no more than a third of the merged group.”
UBS has $1.1 trillion worth of total assets on its balance sheet, while Credit Suisse has $575 billion. A successful merger between the companies would result in the creation of one of “the biggest global systemically important financial institutions in Europe.”
On March 15, SNB and FINMA released a joint statement claiming that Credit Suisse met the “capital and liquidity requirements” placed by the important banks in Switzerland. The statement concluded that if required, SBN will provide Credit Suisse with liquidity, acknowledging that the banking institution is “affected by market reactions in recent days.”
A crypto journalist with over 3 years of experience in DeFi, NFT, metaverse, etc. Parth has worked with major media outlets in the crypto and finance world and has gained experience and expertise in crypto culture after surviving bear and bull markets over the years.
