Its latest trouble started last week, when the spread on its CDS (Credit Default Swaps) reached an annual high on Friday, followed by a new peak on Monday. The situation seems to have eased a bit as I write this. Last weekend, it tried to reassure its clients, investors and employees about its financial health, which has been undermined since the beginning of the year. The comments of the management, ahead of the presentation of the new strategy planned for the end of the month, had the opposite effect and inflamed social networks. They sowed the seed of a new rumor: that the bank was going to proceed to a capital raising.

Rarely a week goes by without a new scandal that shakes the reputation of the famous Swiss bank. I will give you here the most striking events of this (non-exhaustive) series:

Last year, Credit Suisse was hit hard by the two most sensational financial affairs of the year: the Greensill Capital bankruptcy and the Archegos Capital fiasco.

In August 2021, news broke that the lender would go on trial for its role in the 2013 tuna bond scandal. What role? Credit Suisse helped arrange $2 billion in loans and bond issues, to finance maritime projects in Mozambique, that were concealed from the IMF and the country's other donors, who subsequently cut off aid to Mozambique.

In November 2021, the bank revealed that its CEO António Horta-Osório, freshly arrived to restore the group's image, twice violated his Covid quarantine twice to fly out of the country and was caught red-handed, even though he was urging his employees to better manage risk and comply with rules when he arrived in April. He resigned in January 2022. After his resignation, the swiss bank discovered that it had been paying for the empty returns of the jets that took the same president to London or Lisbon, not just for business trips. In December 2021, the European Union fined Credit Suisse, Barclays, HSBC and NatWest 344 million euros for their role in the foreign exchange rigging case.

In February 2022, Credit Suisse was accused of securitizing a portfolio of loans linked to the yachts and private jets of its wealthiest clients, using derivatives to offload the risks associated with these loans. That same month, the lender denied involvement in the Bulgarian crime ring money laundering case , which went to trial in February and in which Credit Suisse is facing a $45.5 million claim for damages. More recently, the hosting of accounts of notorious criminals by the Zurich-based group was again pointed out by the authorities.

 

Drawing by Amandine Victor for MarketScreener