2023-04-24 14:51:19
- Peter Hoskins
- Business Editor
The Swiss banking giant said that 61.2 billion Swiss francs, or about $68.6 billion, were withdrawn from the bank in the first three months of this year.
Credit Suisse revealed the extent of the rush of customers to withdraw, which led to the intervention of the Swiss state to save it from bankruptcy last March.
The Swiss banking giant said that 61.2 billion Swiss francs, or about $68.6 billion, were withdrawn from the bank in the first three months of this year.
This came within the framework of Credit Suisse’s announcement of what is expected to be its last ever financial statements. The forced sale of Credit Suisse to its rival UBS is expected to happen soon.
Credit Suisse said, in a statement, that the bank’s wealth management department monitored the decline in assets it managed at the end of March to 502.5 billion francs, which is 29 percent less than in the same period of the previous year.
Credit Suisse added, “These outflows were eased but not restored until April 24, 2023.”
Credit Suisse clients began withdrawing money from the bank after it suffered market turmoil following the collapse of Silicon Valley and Signature banks in the US in March.
In Switzerland, the authorities allocated a rescue package to Credit Suisse. This package included financial guarantees of more than 200 billion francs, as well as the approval of UBS to acquire Credit Suisse.
Credit Suisse has incurred losses and has faced a series of problems in recent years, including accusations of money laundering.
Credit Suisse reported losing CHF7.3 billion in 2022, its worst financial crisis since 2008 – and warned that it did not expect to turn a profit until 2024.
Speaking to the BBC, Francis Coppola, an independent banking expert, commented on the latest data, saying that Credit Suisse saw billions withdrawn in the last three months of 2022.
Coppola added, “Then came the withdrawal of the first three months of the current year 2023. Banks, no matter how large they are, cannot bear such outflows.”
Shanti Kellmain, chief investment officer at UK’s MG Wealth Investments, agrees, saying that given the bank’s size, outflows “would have been significant”.
The collapse of Silicon Valley and Signature banks in the United States came after a sharp decline in the value of their assets as a result of high interest rates.
Bank stocks around the world witnessed a sharp decline amid fears that other banks would be exposed to similar problems, and that investors would rush to withdraw their money from Credit Suisse, which is already suffering.
Swiss authorities have opened an investigation into the sudden takeover of Credit Suisse, which was the second largest bank in the country.
The acquisition deal angered the financiers and shareholders of both banks, who were denied a vote on the acquisition.
Some argued that this damaged Switzerland’s reputation as a global financial centre.
When the deal was announced, Credit Suisse was valued at $3.15 billion, which was $8 billion before the settlement.
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