Swiss foundation Ethos joins legal case against UBS takeover of Credit Suisse

investmentweek.co.uk:

Ethos, Swiss Foundation for Sustainable Development, is composed of 250 Swiss pension funds and public utility foundations, which aim to promote socially responsible investment.

In a statement, the Ethos Foundation said today (4 July) that it had decided to support the Lausanne-based legal start-up LegalPass in its legal action against the exchange ratio set in the context of the bank's acquisition in March. 

«Since its announcement on 19 March 2023, the Ethos Foundation has objected to the way in which the acquisition of Credit Suisse by UBS has been carried out, in particular to the fact that shareholders were not invited to exercise their rights in a vote at the Annual General Meeting,» the foundation said. 

Credit Suisse AT1 bond investors sue Swiss regulator

The exchange ratio set for this transaction — one UBS share for 22.48 Credit Suisse shares — values Credit Suisse at only CHF 3bn (£2.6bn), whereas it was worth CHF 7bn (£6.1bn) at the close of trading on 17 March, it noted.

The objective of LegalPass' claim is to obtain cash compensation equal to the difference in value between the share price set by the merger agreement and the price set by the court.

«Since [Swiss regulator] FINMA has decided to withdraw shareholders' voting rights, the only way to challenge the exchange ratio is to go to court, as LegalPass intends to do,» said Vincent Kaufmann, CEO of the Ethos Foundation.

UBS completes takeover of Credit Suisse to create global wealth giant 

Ethos is composed of 250 Swiss pension funds and public utility foundations, which aim to promote socially responsible investment.

In March, the foundation said Swiss pension funds were being «doubly penalised» by the transaction, firstly, by not being able to