Credit Suisse saw $68B asset outflows in Q1 collapse

ANKARA

Credit Suisse on Monday reported a net asset outflow of 61.2 billion francs ($68.6 billion) in the first quarter.

The Swiss lender saw a one-off 12.43 billion Swiss franc net income in January-March, reflecting a write-off of 15 billion francs of AT1 bonds by the Swiss regulator in light of a planned merger, Credit Suisse said in a statement.

After its main investor, Saudi National Bank, said it was not able to provide more financial assistance, and despite the bank taking a 50 billion Swiss francs ($54.4 billion) loan from the Swiss National Bank, depositors quickly pulled their money out – leading to the bank's collapse.

Its rival, UBS, reached an agreement on March 19 to buy Credit Suisse for 3 billion Swiss francs with the backing of the government.

Credit Suisse recorded an adjusted pre-tax loss of 1.3 billion francs during the three-month period to March.

"Credit Suisse experienced significant net asset outflows, in particular in the second half of March 2023. These outflows have moderated but have not yet reversed as of April 24, 2023," read the statement.

Deposit outflows represented 57% of the net asset outflows from the wealth management unit and Swiss bank in the first quarter.

Credit Suisse posted 47.1 billion francs of net outflows in wealth management and a goodwill impairment charge of 1.3 billion francs was mostly related to that unit.