Credit Suisse shareholders to file suit over UBS merger

GENEVA, SWITZERLAND — Hundreds of small shareholders in Credit Suisse will file a legal suit over the bank’s forced rescue merger with UBS to obtain compensation for their losses, The Financial Times reported Sunday.

The complaint will be filed Monday in Zurich, Arik Roschke of the Swiss Shareholders’ defence association (SASV) told the AWP news agency, confirming the report.

Around 1,000 shareholders have joined the complaint by becoming SASV members, he said.

Swiss officials, afraid that Credit Suisse could collapse with possibly catastrophic consequences for the global financial system, arranged a rushed marriage in March with UBS, the nation’s largest bank.

Credit Suisse shareholders felt burned by the merger terms, which valued the bank’s equity capital at roughly three billion Swiss francs (US$3.2 billion).

That valuation, decided during a weekend of frantic negotiations, was much less than the seven billion francs just days before the deal was announced.

A similar class action suit is being prepared by the legal startup LegalPass, which said in July that it had raised enough funds from hundreds of Credit Suisse shareholders to proceed with the complaint.

In July, Switzerland’s parliament began an inquiry into the bank’s government-orchestrated takeover.

— AFP