Swiss investors challenge UBS's deal to buy Credit Suisse
They believe that Credit Suisse was sold at a below-market price during secret negotiations and under government pressure
A group of Swiss investors has joined the initiative of the Legal Pass law firm, which is trying to challenge in court the terms of the deal to buy Credit Suisse by rival UBS.
Source. This was reported by Interfax-Ukraine.
The Ethos Foundation, which represents the interests of former Credit Suisse shareholders, expressed disagreement with the way the deal was conducted back in March, as shareholders of both banks did not even have the opportunity to vote for or against it.
The agreement between UBS and Credit Suisse was signed on March 19 with the participation of the Swiss authorities. The deal amounted to 3 billion Swiss francs ($3.35 billion), while the market value of Credit Suisse at the close of the market on March 17 was 7 billion francs, Ethos said. Credit Suisse shares were exchanged at the rate of 22.48 bank shares for each UBS share.
"Credit Suisse was sold at a price below the market, during secret negotiations and under government pressure, all without shareholder participation," said Alexander Osti, a lawyer at Legal Pass.
Ethos, having studied various options for protecting the rights of Credit Suisse shareholders, decided to join the LegalPass initiative, it said in a statement.
"Since FINMA (the Swiss financial regulator – ed.) has deprived shareholders of their voting rights, the only way to challenge the share exchange ratio is to go to court," said Ethos CEO Vincent Kaufmann.
Established in 1997, Ethos represents 250 Swiss pension funds, which owned about 5% of Credit Suisse shares. They also own about 5% of UBS.
Background. At the end of June, Bloomberg wrote that the outflow of funds from Credit Suisse continues, with $6 billion withdrawn from the bank.
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