Exclusive-Credit Suisse to hold internal talks this weekend on scenarios for bank -sources

By Stefania Spezzati and Oliver Hirt

LONDON/ZURICH (Reuters) – Credit Suisse AG will hold meetings over the weekend to assess scenarios for the bank as it struggles to regain the market’s confidence, people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Friday.

The meetings will involve teams reporting to Chief Financial Officer Dixit Joshi, the people said. Executives will run through the numbers and formulate scenarios that might reshape Credit Suisse’s future, the sources added.

Credit Suisse declined to comment.

On Thursday, the bank said it would seek a $54 billion loan from the Swiss National Bank after its customers pulled more than $100 billion in funds in recent months and its shares plunged 25% on Wednesday.

The emergency lifeline has provided the embattled lender with some relief but its shares resumed their descent on Friday.

With investor confidence still weak, some analysts have said the loan facility has only bought Credit Suisse time to work out what to do next strategically to restore profitability.

Among possible scenarios, analysts, bankers and investors speculate that Credit Suisse could sell or wind down some of its existing businesses with a break-up potentially on the cards. 

A more decisive solution could be an outright takeover by a rival.

A string of scandals over many years, top management changes, multi-billion dollar losses and an uninspiring turnaround strategy can be blamed for the troubles that the 167-year-old Swiss lender finds itself in.

The sell-off in Credit Suisse’s shares began in 2021, triggered by losses associated with the collapse of investment fund Archegos and Greensill Capital.

In July, new CEO and restructuring expert Ulrich Koerner unveiled a strategic review that failed to win over investors.

An unsubstantiated rumour on an impending failure of the bank in the autumn sent customers fleeing.

Credit Suisse confirmed last month that clients had pulled 110 billion Swiss francs of funds in the fourth quarter while the bank suffered its biggest annual loss of 7.29 billion Swiss francs since the financial crisis. In December, Credit Suisse had tapped investors for 4 billion Swiss francs.

On Wednesday, Saudi National Bank, the bank’s top backer, told reporters it could not give more money to the bank as it was constrained by regulatory hurdles, though it was supportive of the bank’s turnaround plan.

(Reporting by Stefania Spezzati and Oliver Hirt; Editing by Elisa Martinuzzi, Tom Sims and Elaine Hardcastle)