Credit Suisse Chairman Apologises to Shareholders for Taking the Bank to Bankruptcy

      As per a report by Reuters, the chairman of Credit Suisse apologised for taking the company to the brink of bankruptcy, amid fury by shareholders, two weeks after being bought by rival UBS in a government-brokered deal rescue.

Why are shareholders angry?

 

     Bypassing the shareholders of Credit Suisse, to not let them have a say in the transaction, emergency legislation was invoked by Switzerland, wherein Credit Suisse was taken over by Zurich-based UBS in what is termed as a "hastily arranged deal", wiping the shareholders out of their pocket.

 

      In an official statement during Credit Suisse Annual General Meeting, acknowledging the shock and anger of shareholders, the chairman of the bank Axel Lehmann apologised for not being able to make the company survive and that he is out of time to turn the company around. "I am truly sorry," said Lehmann."I apologise that we were no longer able to stem the loss of trust."

 

Why did the merger take place?

     The company had been facing a fast downward spiral resulting in huge losses and bringing it to almost collapse. Hoping for a successful turnaround, the company had been fighting hard to find a solution but was left with only two options either to deal or file for bankruptcy.

 

     Upon shortage of deposits, the Swiss government turned to the UBS group, the UBS group agreed to buy Credit Suisse for a fraction of its former market value at 3 billion Swiss Francs. This forced merger was necessary to go through so as to save Credit Suisse, which was deeply affected by the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank in the U.S.

 

For more updates keep visiting our website www.topstoriesworld.com where we provide unbiased, true, and top stories of the world.