日内瓦-银行业巨头瑞银将以近32.5亿美元的价格收购陷入困境的竞争对手瑞士瑞信银行，这是一项由监管机构精心策划的交易，旨在避免全球银行体系出现进一步的市场动荡。
在瑞士瑞信银行借款至多500亿瑞士法郎(540亿美元)的计划未能打消投资者和瑞银客户的疑虑后，瑞士当局敦促瑞银收购其规模较小的竞争对手。美国两家银行的倒闭引发了人们对全球金融体系中其他潜在不稳定机构的担忧，瑞士瑞信银行和其他银行的股价本周暴跌。
瑞士瑞信银行是被称为全球系统重要性银行的30家金融机构之一，当局担心如果它倒闭的后果。
瑞士总统阿兰·贝尔塞特(Alain Berset)周日晚间宣布该协议时表示，该协议是“对国际金融稳定具有重大意义的协议之一”。“瑞士瑞信银行不受控制的崩溃将给该国和国际金融体系带来不可估量的后果。”
瑞士的行政部门，包括Berset在内的七人管理机构，通过了一项紧急法令，允许合并无需股东批准即可进行。
瑞士瑞信银行董事长阿克塞尔·莱曼称这次出售是“一个明显的转折点”
莱曼说:“对瑞士瑞信银行、瑞士和全球金融市场来说，这是历史性的、悲伤的和非常具有挑战性的一天。”他补充说，现在的重点是未来，特别是瑞士瑞信银行的5万名员工，其中1.7万人在瑞士。
瑞士协议的消息传出后，世界各国央行宣布在未来一周采取协调一致的金融举措来稳定银行。这包括银行在需要时可以获得贷款便利，这种做法在2008年金融危机期间被广泛使用。2008年9月雷曼兄弟倒闭三个月后，这类互换额度已经达到5800亿美元。在2020年3月新冠肺炎疫情早期的市场动荡期间，也推出了额外的互换额度。
“今天是自2008年以来欧洲银行业最重要的日子之一，将对该行业产生深远影响，”第三桥(Third Bridge)分析师马克斯·乔治乌(Max Schmidt)表示。“这些事件可能不仅会改变欧洲银行业的走向，还会在更大程度上改变财富管理行业的走向。”
瑞银董事长科尔姆凯莱赫(Colm Kelleher)对此次收购带来的“巨大机遇”表示欢迎，并强调了瑞银的“保守风险文化”——这是对瑞士瑞信银行为寻求更大回报而进行更多虚张声势、激进赌博的声誉的微妙打击。他说，合并后的集团将创建一个总投资资产超过5万亿美元的财富管理公司。
瑞士财政部长卡琳·凯勒-萨特(Karin Keller-Sutter)表示，该委员会“很遗憾，该银行曾是瑞士的一个模范机构，也是我们强大地理位置的一部分，却能够陷入这种境地。”
两家最大、最知名的瑞士银行的合并，每家银行都拥有可追溯至19世纪中期的传奇历史，这相当于对瑞士作为全球金融中心的声誉的一记重击——使其处于拥有单一国家银行业冠军的风口浪尖。
此前，美国两家大型银行上周倒闭，促使美国政府做出疯狂、广泛的反应，以防止进一步的恐慌。尽管如此，自瑞士瑞信银行股价本周开始暴跌以来，全球金融市场一直处于紧张状态。
欧洲央行行长克里斯蒂娜·拉加德称赞瑞士官员的“迅速行动”，称他们“有助于恢复有序的市场条件和确保金融稳定。”
她表示，在金融危机期间，银行“处于与2008年完全不同的境地”，部分原因是政府监管更加严格。
瑞银高管表示，他们计划在未来几个月和几年内出售瑞士瑞信银行的部分业务或缩减银行规模。
瑞士政府将提供超过1000亿法郎的援助和财政支持，以使该交易得以通过。
作为交易的一部分，大约160亿法郎(173亿美元)的瑞士瑞信银行债券将被抹去。欧洲银行监管机构使用一种特殊类型的债券，旨在为陷入困境的银行提供资本缓冲。但这些债券的设计目的是，如果一家银行的资本低于某一水平，就会被抹去，这是政府促成的交易的一部分。
贝尔塞特表示，自今年年初以来，联邦委员会一直在讨论瑞士瑞信银行长期陷入困境的情况，并在过去四天召开了紧急会议，因为对其财务健康的担忧加剧，导致其股价大幅下挫，并引发了2007-08年金融危机的担忧。
投资者和银行业分析师仍在消化这笔交易，但至少有一位分析师对这一消息感到不快，因为它可能损害瑞士的全球银行业形象。
咨询公司Opimas LLC的首席执行官奥克塔维奥·马伦齐在一封电子邮件中说:“在全国范围内，谨慎的财务管理、健全的监管监督，以及坦率地说，在投资方面有些沉闷和乏味的声誉已经被抹去了。”
监管全球金融体系的国际机构金融稳定委员会(Financial Stability Board)指定瑞士瑞信银行为全球重要银行之一。这意味着监管机构认为，其不受控制的失败将导致整个金融系统的连锁反应，这与15年前雷曼兄弟(Lehman Brothers)的倒闭没有什么不同。
瑞士瑞信银行母银行不在欧盟监管范围内，但它在几个欧洲国家拥有实体。拉加德重申了她上周在央行加息后所说的话——欧洲银行业具有弹性，拥有强大的金融储备和充足的现金。
瑞士瑞信银行的许多问题是独特的，与导致硅谷银行(Silicon Valley Bank)和Signature Bank倒闭的弱点没有重叠，硅谷银行和Signature Bank的倒闭导致了联邦存款保险公司(Federal Deposit Insurance Corp .)和美联储(Federal Deposit Insurance corp .)的大力救助。因此，它们的衰落并不一定意味着类似于2008年的金融危机的开始。
这笔交易结束了瑞士瑞信银行极不稳定的一周，最引人注目的是周三其股价跌至创纪录低点，此前其最大投资者沙特国家银行(Saudi National Bank)表示，不会再向该银行投资更多资金，以避免因其股份上涨约10%而触发监管规定。
上周五，该股在瑞士交易所下跌8%，收于1.86瑞士法郎(合2美元)。该股经历了长时间的下跌:2007年交易价超过80法郎。
瑞士瑞信银行周二报告称，截至去年底，管理人员发现了该行财务报告内部控制的“重大缺陷”，此后该行开始陷入当前的困境。这加剧了人们对瑞士瑞信银行将成为下一个倒下的多米诺骨牌的担忧。
尽管规模小于其瑞士竞争对手瑞银(UBS)，但瑞士瑞信银行仍拥有相当大的影响力，管理着1.4万亿美元的资产。该公司在世界各地拥有重要的交易部门，通过其财富管理业务迎合富人和富人，是全球公司并购的主要顾问。值得注意的是，瑞士瑞信银行在2008年金融危机期间不需要政府援助，而瑞银却需要。
这家瑞士银行一直在努力从投资者那里筹集资金，并推出一项新战略来克服一系列问题，包括对对冲基金的错误押注、高层管理人员的多次变动以及涉及瑞银的间谍丑闻。
UBS to buy Credit Suisse for nearly $3.25B to calm turmoil
GENEVA --Banking giant UBS is buying troubled rival Credit Suisse for almost $3.25 billion, in a deal orchestrated by regulators in an effort to avoid further market-shaking turmoil in the global banking system.
Swiss authorities pushed for UBS to take over its smaller rival after a plan for Credit Suisse to borrow up to 50 billion francs ($54 billion) failed to reassure investors and the bank’s customers. Shares of Credit Suisse and other banks plunged this week after the failure of two banks in the U.S. sparked concerns about other potentially shaky institutions in the global financial system.
Credit Suisse is among the 30 financial institutions known as globally systemically important banks, and authorities worried about the fallout if it were to fail.
The deal was “one of great breadth for the stability of international finance," said Swiss President Alain Berset as he announced it Sunday night. "An uncontrolled collapse of Credit Suisse would lead to incalculable consequences for the country and the international financial system.”
Switzerland's executive branch, a seven-member governing body that includes Berset, passed an emergency ordinance allowing the merger to go through without shareholder approval.
Credit Suisse Chairman Axel Lehmann called the sale “a clear turning point.”
“It is a historic, sad and very challenging day for Credit Suisse, for Switzerland and for the global financial markets,” Lehmann said, adding that the focus is now on the future and in particular on the 50,000 Credit Suisse employees, 17,000 of whom are in Switzerland.
Following news of the Swiss deal, the world’s central banks announced coordinated financial moves to stabilize banks in the coming week. This includes daily access to a lending facility for banks looking to borrow U.S. dollars if they need them, a practice which widely used during the 2008 financial crisis. Three months after Lehman Brothers collapsed in September of 2008, such swap lines had been tapped for $580 billion. Added swap lines were also rolled out during market turmoil in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in March of 2020.
“Today is one of the most significant days in European banking since 2008, with far-reaching repercussions for the industry," said Max Georgiou, an analyst at Third Bridge. “These events could alter the course of not only European banking but also the wealth management industry more generally.”
Colm Kelleher, the UBS chairman, hailed the “enormous opportunities” that emerge from the takeover, and highlighted his bank’s “conservative risk culture” — a subtle swipe at Credit Suisse's reputation for more swashbuckling, aggressive gambles in search of bigger returns. He said the combined group would create a wealth manager with over $5 trillion in total invested assets.
Swiss Finance Minister Karin Keller-Sutter said the council "regrets that the bank, which was once a model institution in Switzerland and part of our strong location, was able to get into this situation at all.”
The combination of the two biggest and best-known Swiss banks, each with storied histories dating to the mid-19th century, amounts to a thunderclap for Switzerland’s reputation as a global financial center — leaving it on the cusp of having a single national champion in banking.
The deal follows the collapse of two large U.S. banks last week that spurred a frantic, broad response from the U.S. government to prevent any further panic. Still, global financial markets have been on edge since Credit Suisse’s share price began plummeting this week.
European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde lauded the “swift action” by Swiss officials, saying they were “instrumental for restoring orderly market conditions and ensuring financial stability.”
She said the banks “are in a completely different position from 2008” during the financial crisis, partly because of stricter government regulation.
UBS officials said they plan to sell off parts of Credit Suisse or reduce the bank's size in the coming months and years.
The Swiss government is providing more than 100 billion francs in aid and financial backstops to make the deal go through.
As part of the deal, approximately 16 billion francs ($17.3 billion) in Credit Suisse bonds will be wiped out. European bank regulators use a special type of bond designed to provide a capital cushion to banks in times of distress. But these bonds are designed to be wiped out if a bank’s capital falls below a certain level, which was triggered as part of this government-brokered deal.
Berset said the Federal Council had already been discussing a long-troubled situation at Credit Suisse since the beginning of the year and held urgent meetings in the last four days amid spiraling concerns about its financial health that caused major swoons in its stock price and raised the specter of the 2007-08 financial crisis.
Investors and banking industry analysts were still digesting the deal, but at least one analyst was sour on the news because it could damage Switzerland’s global banking image.
“A country-wide reputation with prudent financial management, sound regulatory oversight, and, frankly, for being somewhat dour and boring regarding investments, has been wiped away,” said Octavio Marenzi, CEO of consulting firm Opimas LLC, in an email.
Credit Suisse is designated by the Financial Stability Board, an international body that monitors the global financial system, as one of the world’s important banks. This means regulators believe its uncontrolled failure would lead to ripples throughout the financial system not unlike the collapse of Lehman Brothers 15 years ago.
The Credit Suisse parent bank is not part of European Union supervision, but it has entities in several European countries that are. Lagarde reiterated what she said last week after the central bank raised interest rates — that the European banking sector is resilient, with strong financial reserves and plenty of ready cash.
Many of Credit Suisse’s problems are unique and do not overlap with the weaknesses that brought down Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, whose failures led to a significant rescue effort by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Federal Reserve. As a result, their downfall does not necessarily signal the start of a financial crisis similar to what occurred in 2008.
The deal caps a highly volatile week for Credit Suisse, most notably on Wednesday when its shares plunged to a record low after its largest investor, the Saudi National Bank, said it wouldn't invest any more money into the bank to avoid tripping regulations that would kick in if its stake rose about 10%.
On Friday, shares dropped 8% to close at 1.86 francs ($2) on the Swiss exchange. The stock has seen a long downward slide: It traded at more than 80 francs in 2007.
Its current troubles began after Credit Suisse reported on Tuesday that managers had identified “material weaknesses” in the bank’s internal controls on financial reporting as of the end of last year. That fanned fears that Credit Suisse would be the next domino to fall.
While smaller than its Swiss rival UBS, Credit Suisse still wields considerable influence, with $1.4 trillion assets under management. The firm has significant trading desks around the world, caters to the rich and wealthy through its wealth management business, and is a major advisor for global companies in mergers and acquisitions. Notably, Credit Suisse did not need government assistance in 2008 during the financial crisis, while UBS did.
The Swiss bank has been pushing to raise money from investors and roll out a new strategy to overcome an array of troubles, including bad bets on hedge funds, repeated shake-ups of its top management and a spying scandal involving UBS.
