Market history · Banking ·
Credit Suisse is sold to UBS
On 19 March 2023 UBS agreed to buy Credit Suisse for about CHF 3 billion in a deal brokered by Swiss authorities. Credit Suisse's additional tier 1 (AT1) bonds, roughly CHF 16 billion, were written down to zero even though shareholders received some value.
The treatment inverted the usual order in which losses are borne and unsettled the AT1 market worldwide, though other regulators moved to say they would follow the conventional hierarchy.
The takeaway
Read the terms of a security, not just its label; contractual and legal ranking can differ from expectation in a crisis.
This is a retrospective about a past event, provided for general information. It is not investment advice, does not describe RockLake's positioning at the time, and past performance is not a guide to future performance. Read the risk warning.