Why did the largest wealth management bank in the world decide to come to the rescue of a lame duck? The judges want to know more about the conditions that prompted federal authorities to act so quickly.
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Considered the weak link in the banking sector in Europe, Credit Suisse, the second largest bank in the Swiss Confederation, weakened by repeated scandals, has suffered a loss of nearly 7 billion euros. Faced with the risk of bankruptcy, the building had to be saved. What UBS (Union des Banques Suisses), the other national giant, did by agreeing to buy its sister company on March 19 for 3 billion francs (about 3 billion euros), which is to say a bite of bread. It is this precise point which interests justice.
>> Takeover of Credit Suisse by UBS: behind the “relief” of financial circles, the threat of layoffs now hovers
The prosecution is questioning the solid guarantees granted by the Swiss federal state and the central bank to carry out the operation. Why did UBS agree to come to the aid of Credit Suisse so quickly, without taking the time to examine the situation in detail? Why did the central bank give UBS a $50 billion loan to support the deal? Why so eager on the part of UBS to get their hands on Credit Suisse? Why this zeal and what interest for the largest wealth management bank in the world to fly to the rescue of a lame duck?
The case is far from being light in this kind of file, because one can discover at any time unpleasant surprises in the books of account.
Switzerland’s reputation at stake
A bankruptcy of Credit Suisse above all threatened to drag with it the ancestral image of a banking system whose reputation is worldwide. How can you imagine for a single second the fall of the sacrosanct Swiss banking secrecy accompanied by all the fantasies that surround it?
The Bern-based public prosecutor’s office wants to ensure that the Swiss financial center remains “clean”. With this merger operation between the two banks, which threatens up to 36,000 jobs around the world, Switzerland is experiencing a first serious, historic warning shot, which cannot go unanswered. Many actors will pull the thread to try to find out more.
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