Swiss regulator says central bank loan to Credit Suisse justified AT1 bond writedown

Finance

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Axel Lehmann, chairman of Credit Suisse Group AG, Colm Kelleher, chairman of UBS Group AG, Karin Keller-Sutter, Switzerland’s finance minister, Alain Berset, Switzerland’s president, Thomas Jordan, president of the Swiss National Bank (SNB), Marlene Amstad, chairperson of the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA), left to right, during a news conference in Bern, Switzerland, on Sunday, March 19, 2023.
Pascal Mora | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Swiss regulator FINMA on Thursday defended its decision to instruct Credit Suisse to write down its AT1 bonds — a controversial part of the lender’s emergency sale to UBS — saying it was a “viability event.”

The regulator said the loan Credit Suisse received from the Swiss National Bank last week meant the conditions for a writedown had been met.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated shortly.