The Swiss voice in the world since 1935

Swiss finance minister backs Credit Suisse to recover

Credit Suisse
Credit Suisse has raised CHF4bn from the markets to help its recovery. © Keystone / Ennio Leanza

Outgoing Swiss Finance Minister Ueli Maurer believes the country’s second-largest bank, Credit Suisse, can battle back from a string of scandals and trading losses.

Credit Suisse is undergoing a major restructuring by shedding 9,000 jobs and parts of its investment banking business.

Speaking to Swiss public broadcaster SRF, Maurer said: “I am of the opinion that Credit Suisse will turn the corner. It is very important for Switzerland that we have two big banks for the Swiss financial centre and the Swiss business centre.”

Credit Suisse is one of Switzerland’s biggest banks covering wealth and asset management, retail and investment banking and deemed, along with UBS and others, as ‘too big to fail’ by the financial regulator. 

“I think you actually hear good news from Credit Suisse now. They adopted a clear, new strategy, and are implementing that which leads to a massive cost reduction,” said Maurer.

The bank has seen clients withdraw assets and its share price has remained in the doldrums since announcing its new strategy in October.

“You just have to leave them alone for a year or two now,” said Maurer.

Credit Suisse has also raised CHF4 billion ($4.3 billion) in fresh funding from the markets, including the Saudi National Bank.

Maurer will retire as Swiss finance minister at the end of this year.

More


Popular Stories

Most Discussed

News

The accident site of the crashed F/A-18 on the Susten Pass, pictured on August 31, 2016.

More

Swiss military jet crash: air traffic controller found guilty

This content was published on Over eight and a half years after the fatal F/A-18 military jet accident in Switzerland, an air traffic controller has been found guilty of negligent homicide by a military appeals court.

Read more: Swiss military jet crash: air traffic controller found guilty
Postfinance cancels customers with ties to Cuba

More

PostFinance cancels accounts of customers with Cuba links

This content was published on The financial services arm of the Swiss post office, PostFinance, has cancelled the accounts of several customers with links to Cuba as a consequence of US sanctions against the Caribbean island state.

Read more: PostFinance cancels accounts of customers with Cuba links
More and more Swiss people live abroad

More

Number of Swiss around the world grew by 1.6% in 2024

This content was published on Last year, 13,300 Swiss citizens moved abroad, taking the total number of Swiss Abroad to 826,700 (+1.6%). Three-quarters have more than one nationality, new figures show.

Read more: Number of Swiss around the world grew by 1.6% in 2024

In compliance with the JTI standards

More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative

You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!

If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR