Swiss banks are supposed to be a conservative, reliable safe havens during turbulent times. The emergency takeover of Credit Suisse by UBS has shattered this image and damaged the credibility of the Swiss banking sector. SWI swissinfo.ch analyses the consequences and open questions surrounding the dramatic rescue of a ‘too big to fail’ bank. Global effects The reverberations of this seismic bank failure will also be felt around the world. The takeover resulted in CHF16 billion ($17 billion) of Credit Suisse-issued bonds being written off as worthless. This act “will have a long-term consequence for any Swiss financial debt,” one unnamed Credit Suisse bond holder told the Financial Times. In other words, investors might now think twice before putting their money into Swiss corporate bonds in future. + How the Credit Suisse takeover unfolded over a weekend of mayhem The Swiss government also forced through the Credit Suisse takeover without a shareholder vote. To put it mildly,...
