UBS agrees to takeover of stricken Credit Suisse for $3.25bn

After a weekend of frantic talks, the Swiss government and the banking regulator brokered a deal once it became clear a $54bn loan to Credit Suisse from the Swiss central bank had failed to halt the precipitous slide in its share price.

He said the takeover was made possible after the Swiss federal government, the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority FINMA and the Swiss National Bank agreed to support the deal.

Private investors who supported Credit Suisse with $16bn of credit were also expected to be wiped out by the deal.

The Swiss government brokered the deal and will change the law to allow it to go ahead without a shareholder vote. UBS reportedly bid $1bn at first but this was rejected by the board of Credit Suisse.

The price tag is still well below its stock market value, even after it crumbled to just $8.6bn (£7bn), down 86% since February 2021, after a prolonged series of scandals, compliance problems and bad financial bets.

In 2014, the bank pleaded guilty to allowing US clients to evade their taxes, leading to a $2.6bn fine from the US government and New York financial regulators.