London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Sep 18, 2025

Biggest Swiss Bank UBS Agrees To Buy Crisis-Hit Credit Suisse In Historic Deal

Biggest Swiss Bank UBS Agrees To Buy Crisis-Hit Credit Suisse In Historic Deal

The move was welcomed in Washington, Brussels and London as one that would support financial stability.

UBS will take over its troubled Swiss rival Credit Suisse for $3.25 billion following crunch talks Sunday aimed at stopping the stricken bank from triggering a wider international banking crisis.

The government said the deal involving Switzerland's biggest bank taking over the second-largest, was vital to prevent irreparable economic turmoil spreading throughout the country and beyond.

The move was welcomed in Washington, Brussels and London as one that would support financial stability.

After a dramatic day of talks at the finance ministry in the capital Bern -- and with the clock ticking ahead of the markets opening on Monday in Asia and then in Europe -- the takeover details were announced at a press conference.

Swiss President Alain Berset was flanked by UBS chairman Colm Kelleher and his Credit Suisse counterpart Axel Lehmann, along with the Swiss finance minister and the heads of the Swiss National Bank (SNB) central bank and the financial regulator FINMA.

The wealthy Alpine nation is famed for its banking prominence and Berset said the takeover was the "best solution for restoring the confidence that has been lacking in the financial markets recently".

If Credit Suisse went into freefall, it would have had "incalculable consequences for the country and for international financial stability", he said.

Credit Suisse said in a statement that UBS would take it over for "a merger consideration of three billion Swiss francs ($3.25 billion)", with Credit Suisse shareholders receiving one UBS share for 22.48 Credit Suisse shares.

"Given recent extraordinary and unprecedented circumstances, the announced merger represents the best available outcome," Lehmann said.

'Huge collateral damage' risk


Finance Minister Karin Keller-Sutter said that bankruptcy for Credit Suisse could have caused "irreparable economic turmoil" and "huge collateral damage" for the Swiss financial market, not to mention the "risk of contagion" for other banks, including UBS itself.

The takeover has "laid the foundation for greater stability both in Switzerland and internationally", she said.

The deal was warmly received internationally, with European Central Bank chief Christine Lagarde welcoming the "swift action".

The decisions taken in Bern "are instrumental for restoring orderly market conditions and ensuring financial stability. The euro area banking sector is resilient, with strong capital and liquidity positions", she said.

Fed chair Jerome Powell and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a joint statement: "We welcome the announcements by the Swiss authorities today to support financial stability."

Britain too said the deal would "support financial stability".

Keller-Sutter said her US and British colleagues "really feared that there could be a bankruptcy of Credit Suisse, with all the losses".

The SNB announced that 100 billion Swiss francs of liquidity would be available.

Keller-Sutter insisted the deal was "a commercial solution and not a bailout."

UBS chairman Kelleher added: "We are committed to making this deal a great success.

"This is absolutely essential to the financial structure of Switzerland.

"UBS will remain rock solid," he insisted.

Too big to fail?


Like UBS, Credit Suisse was one of 30 banks around the world deemed to be Global Systemically Important Banks -- of such importance to the international banking system that they are considered too big to fail.

But the market movement seemed to suggest the bank was being perceived as a weak link in the chain.

Amid fears of contagion after the collapse of two US banks, Credit Suisse's share price had plunged by more than 30 percent on Wednesday to a new record low of 1.55 Swiss francs. That saw the SNB step in overnight with a $54-billion lifeline.

After recovering some ground Thursday, its shares closed down eight percent on Friday at 1.86 Swiss francs as the Zurich-based lender struggled to retain investor confidence.

In 2022, the bank suffered a net loss of $7.9 billion and expects a "substantial" pre-tax loss this year.

A UBS statement said Credit Suisse shareholders would get 0.76 Swiss francs per share.

After suffering heavy falls on the stock market last week, Credit Suisse's share price closed Friday at 1.86 Swiss francs, with the bank worth just over $8.7 billion.

Credit Suisse's share price has tumbled from 12.78 Swiss francs in February 2021 due to a string of scandals that it has been unable to shake off.

The Swiss Bank Employees Association said there was "a great deal at stake" for the 17,000 Credit Suisse staff, "and therefore also for our economy".

In addition, tens of thousands of jobs outside of the banking industry were potentially be at risk, it added.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Massive Strikes in France Pressure Macron and New PM on Austerity Proposals
Trump Seeks Supreme Court Permission to Remove Fed Governor Lisa Cook
Hillary Clinton’s Reckless Rhetoric Fuels Division After Charlie Kirk’s Assassination
NASDAQ Rises to Record as Intel Soars More Than 20%, Nvidia Gains 3%
Nvidia’s $5 Billion Bet on Intel Reshapes AI Hardware Landscape
Trump and Starmer Clash Over UK Recognition of Palestinian State Amid State Visit
Trump’s Quip on Biden and Google Lawsuit Revives Debate Over Antitrust Legacy
Macron and his wife to provide 'scientific photographic evidence' that she is a real woman
US Tech Giants Pledge Billions to UK AI Infrastructure Following Starmer's Call
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
DeepMind and OpenAI Achieve Gold at ‘Coding Olympics’ in AI Milestone
SEC Allows Public Companies to Block Investors from Class-Action Lawsuits
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Federal Reserve Cuts Rates by Quarter Point and Signals More to Come
Effective and Impressive Generation Z Protest: Images from the Riots in Nepal
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Trump: Cancel quarterly company reports and settle for reporting once every six months
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
US Launches New Pilot Program to Accelerate eVTOL Air Taxi Deployment
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Hong Kong Industry Group Calls for HK$20 Billion Support Fund to Ease Property Market Stress
Joe Biden’s Post-Presidency Speaking Fees Face Weak Demand amid Corporate Reluctance
Charlie Kirk's murder will break the left's hateful cancel tactics
Kash Patel erupts at ‘buffoon’ Sen. Adam Schiff over Russiagate: ‘You are the biggest fraud’
Homeland Security says Emmy speech ‘fanning the flames of hatred’ after Einbinder’s ‘F— ICE’ remark
Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin Tyler Robinson Faces Death Penalty as Charges Formally Announced
Actor, director, environmentalist Robert Redford dies at 89
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
JD Vance Says There Is “No Unity” with Those Who Celebrate Charlie Kirk’s Killing, and he is right!
Trump sues the 'New York Times' for an astronomical sum of 15 billion dollars
Florida Hospital Welcomes Its Largest-Ever Baby: Annan, Nearly Fourteen Pounds at Birth
U.S. and Britain Poised to Finalize Over $10 Billion in High-Tech, Nuclear and Defense Deals During Trump State Visit
China Finds Nvidia Violated Antitrust Laws in Mellanox Deal, Deepens Trade Tensions with US
US Air Force Begins Modifications on Qatar-Donated Jet Amid Plans to Use It as Air Force One
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
Elon Musk Retakes Lead as World’s Richest After Brief Ellison Surge
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
London Daily Podcast: London Massive Pro Democracy Rally, Musk Support, UK Economic Data and Premier League Results Mark Eventful Weekend
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Musk calls for new UK government at huge pro-democracy rally in London, but Britons have been brainwashed to obey instead of fighting for their human rights
Elon Musk responds to post calling for the murder of Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk: 'Either we fight back or they will kill us'
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
USA: Office Depot Employees Refused to Print Poster in Memory of Charlie Kirk – and Were Fired
Proposed U.S. Bill Would Allow Civil Suits Against Judges Who Release Repeat Violent Offenders
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
×