Credit Suisse banking crisis

The Switzerland-based bank has a long history of scandal, which has contributed to its involvement in the global banking crisis.

Other [scandals](https://www.theguardian.com/news/2022/feb/21/tax-timeline-credit-suisse-scandals) also contributed to what Peter Boockvar, chief investment officer of Bleakley Financial Group, [told](https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/15/business/bank-fears-svb-credit-suisse/index.html) CNN was Credit Suisse’s “slowing-moving car crash.” The bank closed the 2022 fiscal year with a [loss](https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/credit-suisse-logs-worst-annual-loss-since-global-financial-crisis-2023-02-09/) of nearly $8 billion, its biggest loss since the 2008 global financial crisis. The bank was [convicted](https://www.wsj.com/articles/credit-suisse-found-guilty-in-money-laundering-case-tied-to-cocaine-ring-11656342724) in June 2022 of failing to prevent money laundering by a Bulgarian cocaine trafficking gang. The California-based bank was popular in the tech world, drawing many of its [clients](https://www.svb.com/success-stories/client-stories) from startups, venture capital firms and wealthy tech workers. [financial report](https://www.credit-suisse.com/media/assets/corporate/docs/about-us/investor-relations/financial-disclosures/financial-reports/csg-ar-2022-en.pdf). In 2020, Credit Suisse’s Chief Executive Tidjane Thiam was forced to [resign](https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/feb/07/credit-suisse-chief-tidjane-thiam-ousted-after-spying-scandal) after it was unveiled the bank hired private detectives to spy on its former head of wealth management once he left to join a rival bank. [since](https://www.cnbc.com/2023/03/10/silicon-valley-bank-collapse-how-it-happened.html) the Great Recession. The company [announced](https://ir.svb.com/news-and-research/news/news-details/2023/SVB-Financial-Group-Announces-Proposed-Offerings-of-Common-Stock-and-Mandatory-Convertible-Preferred-Stock/default.aspx) March 8 it had sold $21 billion in securities at a loss of $1.8 billion and would seek to raise $2.25 billion in capital. Though the collapse of SVB and Signature put a spotlight on Credit Suisse, the three’s problems aren’t connected. [Another Credit Suisse Crisis: Bank Finds 'Material Weaknesses' In Its Financial Reporting](https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2023/03/14/credit-suisse-finds-material-weaknesses-in-its-financial-reporting-process/?sh=2cc15be4419e) (Forbes) [What To Know About Silicon Valley Bank’s Collapse—The Biggest Bank Failure Since 2008](https://www.forbes.com/sites/conormurray/2023/03/13/what-to-know-about-silicon-valley-banks-collapse-the-biggest-bank-failure-since-2008/?sh=51bccede4c27) (Forbes) [Credit Suisse Stock Plunges To Record Low As Bank Concerns Grow](https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2023/03/15/credit-suisse-stock-plunges-to-record-low-as-bank-concerns-grow/?sh=59702ba02b04) (Forbes) [Credit Suisse Turmoil: Swiss Central Bank Will Support Troubled Bank ‘If Necessary’](https://www.forbes.com/sites/brianbushard/2023/03/15/credit-suisse-turmoil-swiss-central-bank-will-support-troubled-bank-if-necessary/?sh=2c1709e57619) (Forbes) [Why banking fears just came roaring back](https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/15/business/bank-fears-svb-credit-suisse/index.html) (CNN)= The Swiss government claimed the gang washed millions of dollars through the bank and fined Credit Suisse $2.1 million and ordered it to pay the Swiss government $20 million. Signature Bank [failed](https://www.wsj.com/articles/signature-bank-is-shut-by-regulators-after-svb-failure-a5f9e0f7) just two days after SVB, becoming the third largest bank failure in American history.

Global shares rise as $30bn lifeline for US bank eases fears of imminent collapse and US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen says US banking system 'is sound'

[Swiss National Bank stepped in with a 50bn Swiss franc (£44bn) loan](https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/mar/16/credit-suisse-takes-50bn-loan-from-swiss-central-bank-after-share-price-plunge) to prop up the beleaguered lender. [Federal Reserve](https://www.theguardian.com/business/federal-reserve) in the past week. [secured a loan facility with the Swiss Central Bank](https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/mar/16/credit-suisse-takes-50bn-loan-from-swiss-central-bank-after-share-price-plunge), intended as a guarantee of its future stability, and the panic somewhat abated – and it’s important to say that we are a long way from a full-blown crisis. [spread across the world](https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/mar/13/silicon-valley-bank-global-banking-shares-slide-as-fallout-spreads). André Helfenstein, chief executive of the Credit Suisse’s Swiss bank, told the Swiss broadcaster SRF: But she denied that emergency action after the two large bank failures meant that there was a blanket government guarantee for all deposits. Some calm has returned to financial markets at the end of a turbulent week, but investors remain wary. SVB was supposed to be a regional player whose failure would be unlikely to have profound ramifications – but then a longstanding set of problems at Credit Suisse, a far more consequential institution, [turned into an emergency](https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/mar/15/credit-suisse-shares-fall-low-top-investor-funding-saudi-national-bank). The FTSE 100 index in London has risen 75 points to 7,487, a gain of over 1%, as banking crisis fears eased. It said this could have resulted in “misstatements” of financial results. Ahead of the budget, Tim Sarson, UK head of tax policy at KPMG, told the FT he thought it was a “racing certainty” the changes would be made. Some optimism has returned to markets over the last 24 hours, with bank stocks stabilising on both sides of the Atlantic and two-year yields surging back.