Credit Suisse

Credit Suisse Group AG
FormerlySchweizerische Kreditanstalt
Company typeSubsidiary
ISINCH0012138530
IndustryFinancial services
Founded5 July 1856; 168 years ago (1856-07-05)[2]
Founders
FateAcquired by UBS to avoid bankruptcy in June 2023[3]
Headquarters
Zürich
,
Switzerland
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
ProductsInvestment and private banking, asset management
RevenueDecrease CHF 14.92 billion (2022)[7]
Decrease CHF −3.2 billion (2022)[7]
Decrease CHF −7.3 billion (2022)[7]
AUMDecrease CHF 1.29 trillion (2022)[7]
Total assetsDecrease CHF 531.4 billion (2022)[7]
Total equityIncrease CHF 45.13 billion (2022)[7]
Number of employees
Increase 50,480 (end 2022)[7]
ParentUBS Group AG
Capital ratioIncrease 14.1% (end 2022, CET1)[7]
RatingS&P: BBB−
Fitch: BBB[8]
Moody's: Baa2[9]
Websitecredit-suisse.com

Credit Suisse Group AG (French pronunciation: [kʁe.di sɥis], lit. 'Swiss Credit') is a global investment bank and financial services firm founded and based in Switzerland as a standalone firm but now a subsidiary of UBS. According to UBS, eventually Credit Suisse will be fully integrated into UBS[10] but while the integration is not complete both banks are operating separately. Headquartered in Zürich, as a standalone firm it maintained offices in all major financial centers around the world and provided services in investment banking, private banking, asset management, and shared services. It was known for strict bank–client confidentiality and banking secrecy. The Financial Stability Board considered it to be a global systemically important bank. Credit Suisse was also a primary dealer and Forex counterparty of the Federal Reserve in the United States.

Credit Suisse was founded in 1856 to fund the development of Switzerland's rail system. It issued loans that helped create Switzerland's electrical grid and the European rail system. In the 1900s, it began shifting to retail banking in response to the elevation of the middle class and competition from fellow Swiss banks UBS and Julius Bär. Credit Suisse partnered with First Boston in 1978 before buying a controlling share of the bank in 1988. From 1990 to 2000, the company purchased institutions such as Winterthur Group, Swiss Volksbank, Swiss American Securities Inc. (SASI), and Bank Leu.

The company was one of the least affected banks during the 2007–2008 financial crisis, but afterwards began shrinking its investment business, executing layoffs and cutting costs. The bank was at the center of multiple international investigations for tax avoidance (such as the famous "Suisse Secrets" scandal) which culminated in a guilty plea and the forfeiture of US$2.6 billion in fines from 2008 to 2012.[11][12] By the end of 2022, Credit Suisse had approximately CHF 1.3 trillion in assets under management.[7]

On 19 March 2023, following negotiations with the Swiss government, UBS announced its intent to acquire Credit Suisse for $3.25 billion (CHF 3 billion) in order to prevent the bank's collapse.[13][14][15] UBS completed the acquisition in June 2023.[16]

  1. ^ André Roegger. "Paradeplatz - Zurich". Credit Suisse.
  2. ^ "Who we are". Credit Suisse. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
  3. ^ "Credit Suisse: the rise and fall of the bank that built modern Switzerland". ft.com. 24 March 2023. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
  4. ^ Larsen, Peter Thal (17 January 2022). "New Credit Suisse chair has grim streak to break". Reuters.com. Archived from the original on 17 January 2022. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  5. ^ "Violations de la quarantaine – António Horta-Osório quitte la présidence de Credit Suisse". Tdg.ch. 17 January 2022. Archived from the original on 17 January 2022. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  6. ^ "Credit Suisse CEO resigns as bank posts 2Q loss". Associated Press News. 27 July 2022. Archived from the original on 27 July 2022. Retrieved 27 July 2022.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Earnings Release 4Q22" (PDF). Credit Suisse. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 February 2023. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
  8. ^ "Fitch Downgrades Credit Suisse Group to 'BBB'; Outlook Negative". Fitch Ratings. Archived from the original on 13 August 2022. Retrieved 13 August 2022.
  9. ^ "Fitch Downgrades Credit Suisse Group to 'BBB'; Outlook Negative". Fitch Ratings. Archived from the original on 3 September 2022. Retrieved 3 September 2022.
  10. ^ "Latest on the takeover of Credit Suisse | UBS Switzerland". Count on us. Today more than ever. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
  11. ^ "Credit Suisse Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy to Aid and Assist U.S. Taxpayers in Filing False Returns". Department of Justice. 19 May 2014. Archived from the original on 11 April 2021. Retrieved 19 June 2016.
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference GuiltyPlea was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. ^ "UBS agrees $3.25bn rescue deal for rival Credit Suisse". Financial Times. 19 March 2023. Archived from the original on 19 March 2023. Retrieved 19 March 2023.
  14. ^ "UBS Agrees to Buy Credit Suisse for More Than $3 Billion". The Wall Street Journal. 19 April 2023. Archived from the original on 19 March 2023. Retrieved 19 March 2023.
  15. ^ swissinfo.ch/mga (19 March 2023). "Credit Suisse agrees to CHF3bn takeover by rival Swiss bank UBS". SWI swissinfo.ch. Retrieved 20 March 2023.
  16. ^ Halftermeyer, Marion (11 June 2023). "UBS Completes Credit Suisse Takeover to Create Swiss Bank Titan". Bloomberg News.