Switzerland’s attorney general to investigate Credit Suisse takeover

theguardian.com:

Switzerland’s federal prosecutor has launched an investigation into whether last month’s state-backed takeover of the stricken bank Credit Suisse by its bigger rival UBS broke Swiss criminal law.

The office of the attorney general said it was looking into potential breaches by government officials, regulators and executives at the two banks who thrashed out an emergency merger over a frantic weekend in mid-March to prevent a wider financial meltdown.

“In light of recent events, the federal prosecutor’s office wants to proactively fulfil its mission and responsibility to contribute to a clean Swiss financial centre, and has set up monitoring in order to take immediate action in any situation that falls within its area,” the Berne-based prosecutor said.

It wants to analyse the “numerous aspects of events around Credit Suisse” – including those reported in the media – to “identify and assess any crimes that could fall within the competence of the prosecutor”.

The office, led by the attorney general of Switzerland, Stefan Blättler, has been in contact with national and regional authorities and has issued a number of “investigatory orders” to gather information. Blättler’s office is expected to interview key officials about the takeover, but declined to comment further.

After growing concerns about the future of Credit Suisse, one of the 30 banks in the world deemed too big to fail, the Swiss government and the banking regulator forced through the takeover of the bank by UBS for almost $3.25bn (£2.6bn), well below its market value.

They stepped in after it became clear that a 50bn Swiss franc (£44bn) loan to Credit Suisse from the Swiss central bank had failed to halt the dramatic slide in its share price.

UBS, which has brought