Skip to content Skip to Search
Skip navigation

SNB plan to take 40% Credit Suisse stake halted by regulator

By Pramod Kumar
Credit Suisse in Bern Reuters/Arnd Wiegmann
Saudi National Bank became an anchor investor in Credit Suisse’s $4.3 billion capital raise in October 2022

Saudi National Bank (SNB) wanted to increase its stake in Credit Suisse, Switzerland’s second-largest bank, to 40 percent from 9.88 percent, Zürich-based Blick daily reported.

However, Swiss regulator Finma stopped the bank from making the move.

Finma must approve a foreign investor taking a stake of more than 10 percent in a major Swiss bank, the newspaper reported citing informed sources.

In March, the Saudi bank’s chairman Ammar Al Khudairy said during an interview with Bloomberg TV that investing any more would increase its current 10 percent stake in the Swiss lender, leading to regulatory issues.

“If we go above 10 percent, all new rules kick in, whether it be by our regulator or the Swiss regulator or the European regulator,” he said.

UBS agreed to buy Credit Suisse for three billion Swiss francs ($3.4 billion) on March 19 in a rescue plan driven by Swiss authorities.

In May, SNB’s nearly 10 percent shareholding in Credit Suisse was converted to 0.5 percent of UBS following the merger of the two Swiss lenders.

SNB, 37 percent owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, became an anchor investor in Credit Suisse’s $4.3 billion capital raise, which began in October to fund the bank’s revamp and restructuring. 

The stake, initially worth 1.4 billion Swiss francs ($1.53 billion), has since lost more than 500 million francs, according to a Bloomberg report.

The Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), the Gulf state’s sovereign wealth fund, had increased its stake in Credit Suisse to just under 7 percent in January, becoming the Swiss bank’s second-largest shareholder behind SNB.

QIA bought 139.03 million shares in the Swiss lender, bringing its ownership to 6.87 percent.

Another Saudi Arabian conglomerate, Olayan Group, owned a stake of about 3 percent, Eikon data showed.

Latest articles

Tunisia olives

Soaring olive oil exports help Tunisia balance books

Tunisia’s soaring olive oil exports have almost doubled to close to $1 billion in just five months, helping it claw back its current account deficit.   However the increased revenues merely “paint over the cracks” and the country is still probably heading towards a sovereign default, according to an economic expert. Tunisia’s current account deficit narrowed […]

Iraqi prime minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani attends licensing rounds for 29 oil and gas exploration blocks at the oil ministry's headquarters in Baghdad

Falling oil prices deepen Iraq’s fiscal imbalances, says IMF

Iraq’s fiscal imbalances have worsened due to significant fiscal expansion and lower oil prices, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). “The ongoing fiscal expansion is expected to boost growth in 2024 at the expense of a further deterioration of fiscal and external accounts and Iraq’s vulnerability to oil price fluctuations,” the Washington-based fund said in […]

Saudi aluminium producer Talco is offering 12 million shares

Aluminium producer Talco announces Saudi IPO

Aluminium producer Al Taiseer Group Talco Industrial Company (Talco) is the latest entity to reveal initial public offering (IPO) plans in Saudi Arabia. The Riyadh-based company, which was set up in 2009, is offering 12 million shares, a 30 percent stake, on the Saudi Exchange (Tadawul) at a nominal value of SAR10 ($2.67) per share. […]

One of the four restaurants in the Palazzo Versace Dubai hotel, which is listed on the Emirates Auction website

Palazzo Versace hotel sale aims to ride Dubai tourism wave

Owners of Dubai’s ultra-luxurious Palazzo Versace hotel are looking to capitalise on the emirate’s tourism boom before it peaks, offering it for sale at nearly AED1.4 billion ($380 million). A source familiar with the asset told AGBI the hotel is being “readvertised” as it has not found a buyer willing to meet its price tag […]