Office address: 11 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10010
Website: ubs.com/us/en/collections/credit-suisse-ip
Year established: 1856
Company type: financial services
Employees: 45,000+ (2023)
Expertise: investment banking advisory, capital markets financing, equities sales and trading, fixed income and credit products, prime brokerage and financing, global securities execution, institutional research and market insight
Parent company: UBS Group AG Key people: Sergio Ermotti (CEO), Mike Dargan (chief operations and technology officer), Damian Vogel (group CRO), Iqbal Khan and Marco Valla (presidents), Beatriz Jimenez (head non-core and legacy), Michelle Bereaux (group integration officer)
Financing status: corporate‑backed or acquired
Credit Suisse, which used to be a global systemically important bank (G-SIB), now runs as a legacy investment bank under UBS. The unit offers securities trading and prime brokerage to institutional clients. It was a Federal Reserve primary dealer before UBS bought it for $3.2 billion in 2023.
Alfred Escher, a Swiss politician and railway advocate, founded Credit Suisse in Zurich in 1856. The company was originally named "Schweizerische Kreditanstalt," which translates to Swiss Credit Institution in German.
Escher wanted to finance Switzerland's railway expansion without depending on French banks that sought control. The bank's early loans helped build Switzerland's electrical grid and connect the European rail systems.
The company moved into retail banking in the 1900s as Switzerland's middle class expanded. The bank partnered with US investment firm First Boston in 1978 and bought a controlling stake a decade later.
From 1990 to 2000, Credit Suisse snapped up Winterthur Group, Swiss Volksbank, and Bank Leu among others. These deals turned the firm into one of the largest financial institutions in the world.
In 2008, the company held up better than most competitors when the financial crisis struck. But the bank later faced multiple tax avoidance investigations. This includes the "Suisse Secrets" scandal, which was a massive 2022 data leak exposing accounts held by criminals and corrupt officials.
Credit Suisse pleaded guilty and paid $2.6 billion in fines between 2008 and 2012. The firm still managed CHF 1.3 trillion in assets by the end of 2022.
The firm faced a liquidity crisis in early 2023, and the Swiss government had to step in. UBS agreed to buy its longtime rival for $3.2 billion in March 2023, and closed the deal that June. By late 2023, UBS reported $22 billion in wealth management inflows, with $3 billion coming from Credit Suisse's unit.
Credit Suisse AG, the Swiss parent bank, ceased to exist in May 2024, and the Swiss retail bank was deregistered two months later. It now operates as a legacy division under UBS, with its US arm still regulated by the SEC.
Credit Suisse offers investment banking and wealth management through UBS's global platform:
The firm serves financial institutions, corporations, governments, and private clients worldwide. Its US operations remain regulated by the SEC under UBS ownership.
Credit Suisse now operates under UBS and follows the combined firm's priorities since the 2023 acquisition. The legacy unit focuses on serving clients while maintaining a careful approach to risk, according to UBS:
Credit Suisse aims to be part of a bank that clients, employees, and investors can take pride in. The unit now sits within what UBS calls the only truly global wealth manager with scale in key growth markets.
Sergio P. Ermotti serves as group CEO of UBS, a role he previously held from 2011 to 2020. Before rejoining in 2023, Ermotti was chair at Swiss Re and a senior executive at UniCredit and Merrill Lynch. He attended the University of Oxford's advanced management program.
These executives lead Credit Suisse under UBS's group executive board:
Swiss banking law requires UBS to maintain a dual board structure. The board of directors delegates day-to-day management to the group executive board.
Credit Suisse carried unresolved legal issues from its 2014 tax evasion guilty plea into the UBS merger. The bank had admitted to helping US clients hide wealth but later failed to report all hidden accounts. UBS set aside $4 billion to address these legacy matters and keep the integration on track.
Credit Suisse also left behind an unresolved mortgage securities case from 2017. The bank had faced allegations of selling risky loans before the 2008 financial crisis under a $5 billion settlement. UBS paid $300 million to close out the remaining obligations and put another legacy issue to rest.
The price UBS paid for its Swiss rival is 'attractive' even after factoring in potential losses on Credit Suisse assets, litigation costs and restructuring expenses, according to a report by JPMorgan analysts.
The committee uncovered 'major violations' of the $2.6 billion plea deal Credit Suisse reached with the Justice Department in 2014, according to a report.
Ermotti, who previously served as UBS' CEO for nine years, is familiar with UBS and the Swiss financial landscape, qualities seen as critical for the integration.
New York-based Steven M. Rozencwaig will join the firm’s Manhattan office.
As the Justice Department investigates whether financial professionals helped Russian oligarchs evade sanctions, subpoenas also went to employees of some major US banks.
It’s the second straight rise of 25 basis points following a string of aggressive moves starting in March 2022, when rates were near zero.
The stock led a broad-based rally in U.S. banks, with the KBW Regional Banking Index surging 4.8% for its biggest gain since January 2021.
In addition, Fitch places UBS on rating watch negative due to uncertain implications of the acquisition on the combined credit profile of the two banks.
The Treasury Secretary's comments come amid heightened worries about financial stability after the collapse of two US banks and UBS' deal to buy troubled Swiss rival Credit Suisse.
Recent flows into mutual funds and ETFs suggest that investors are already scooping up beaten down bank stocks.
The UBS deal to acquire its banking rival, along with the continued drop in the share price of First Republic Bank, could mean a further shake-up in the US wealth management market.
The rating agency lowered the bank's long-term issuer credit rating to B+ from BB+, having already downgraded the lender to junk last Wednesday.
The Swiss bank is reportedly paying more than $2 billion for its rival in an all-share deal priced at a fraction of Credit Suisse's close on Friday.
The bank says Fed isn’t done with hiking and sees another rate increase next week.
The firm will continue to benefit from interest rates than are higher right now than any time since before the credit crisis, according to CFRA analyst Michael Elliott.
