© Reuters. Swiss Finance Minister Karin Keller-Sutter 03/19/2023 REUTERS/Denis Balibouse
ZURICH (Reuters) – The multibillion-dollar state-sponsored takeover of Swiss credit (SIX:) by UBS should go ahead without any problems or political obstructions, Swiss Finance Minister Karin Keller-Sutter said in an interview published on Saturday.
The Swiss parliament is due to hold an extraordinary session next week to discuss the emergency merger orchestrated by Swiss authorities after Credit Suisse moved closer to collapse.
Almost 260 billion Swiss francs (equivalent to 287 billion dollars) of liquidity support and state guarantees were offered to finance the acquisition and avoid the financial meltdown that the bank’s runaway bankruptcy could have triggered.
“There is a merger agreement between UBS and CS and, in turn, the cabinet has made a commitment to the national bank to provide liquidity to CS with the aim of ensuring stability,” Keller-Sutter told Finanz und Wirtschaft.
“The secured deal with UBS is still being negotiated. In many committee meetings, I got the impression that the politicians definitely don’t want to get in the way of the takeover,” she added. “I don’t see any obstacles at this point.”
(By John Revill)