Credit Suisse Considered for Nationalization Amid Crisis Before UBS Sale 🏦

About six months before Credit Suisse’s weekend rescue by UBS, the Swiss central bank, led by Chairman Thomas Jordan, proposed injecting 50 billion Swiss francs ($57.6 billion) into the troubled lender and nationalizing it, according to sources. Faced with massive deposit outflows and a perceived existential crisis in October 2022, the move aimed to restore confidence by installing new managers. However, the idea was opposed by Switzerland’s financial regulator FINMA, the finance ministry, and Credit Suisse’s management. Ultimately, Swiss authorities opted not to nationalize the bank, marking a point of friction in regulatory approaches and impacting the oversight of Credit Suisse, which later became the first systemically important bank to collapse since the 2008 financial crisis.