UBS completes emergency takeover of Credit Suisse
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UBS announces today that it has concluded a deal to acquire Credit Suisse.
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A clock next to a logo of the Swiss bank Credit Suisse, in Zurich, Switzerland, on March 20, 2023 (AP)
Less than three months after conversations about merging the two banks began, the Swiss banking company UBS announced on Monday that it has concluded a deal to acquire Credit Suisse.
"UBS has completed the acquisition of Credit Suisse today, crossing an important milestone. Credit Suisse Group AG has been merged into UBS Group AG and the combined entity will operate as a consolidated banking group," the Swiss banking group said in a statement.
According to the statement, UBS Group AG will oversee two distinct parent banks, UBS AG and Credit Suisse AG. Each institution will continue operating its branches and subsidiaries, serving its customers, and dealing with counterparties. The merged group will be governed by the board of directors and group executive board of UBS Group AG.
"In the future, UBS will report consolidated financial results for the combined group under IFRS [International Financial Reporting Standards] in USD. The second-quarter 2023 earnings will be communicated on 31 August 2023," the banking group said.
The announcement followed last week's deal between UBS and the Swiss government, according to which the latter will pay for any losses of 9 billion francs (about $10 billion) that might occur from the acquisition of Credit Suisse after UBS pays for the first $5.5 billion in damages.
The share price of Credit Suisse fell by about 30% in the middle of March, raising concerns about a liquidity shortage. A number of US financial institutions, including Silicon Valley Bank, collapsed shortly before the tragedy. The purchase of Credit Suisse by UBS was announced by the Swiss National Bank later in the month.
It is worth noting that by the end of May, the European Commission approved the takeover by UBS of its embattled banking rival Credit Suisse, ruling that the merger does not harm competition in Europe.
The European Commission concluded on Thursday that UBS' takeover of failed rival Credit Suisse will not affect competition in Europe, thus approving the merger request submitted earlier.
On March 19, UBS agreed to acquire global investment bank Credit Suisse, Switzerland's second-largest bank, in a government-brokered deal, for over $3.3 billion after the latter's market value plummeted sharply, nearing the bank from imminent bankruptcy.
Read: European bank shares plummet after Credit Suisse buyout
Swiss authorities granted then 109 billion Swiss francs ($118 billion) in urgent guarantee credits for the Swiss National Bank SNB, FINMA financial regulators, and UBS to acquire the crashing bank.
Both banks are considered to be global systemically important financial institutions (G-SIFIs), which made financial institutions worldwide monitor closely the dangerous situation.
The combined bank will still face "significant competitive pressure from a wide range of competitors in all of those markets, including several major global banks as well as specialist providers and strong local players," the Commission noted.
Almost 25.2 percent of UBS' turnover is in investment banking, while the number at Credit Suisse is 20.6 percent. Both financial institutions conducted similar business ventures, including mergers and acquisition consulting.
Swiss newspaper SonntagsZeitung said earlier this is "the merger of the century."
