ZURICH (Reuters) -Swiss financial regulator FINMA said on Friday it does not see sufficient grounds for proceedings against Credit Suisse, but has set expectations for future communication from the Swiss bank after investigating statements made by the chairman on outflows.
In a statement released after market close in Zurich, FINMA confirmed an earlier report by Reuters and said it had looked in to “possible violations of financial market law” at the Swiss bank.
In early December Chairman Axel Lehmann made comments about outflows from the lender having stabilised. It later turned out clients were still withdrawing funds.
When the bank reported its annual results, Credit Suisse said clients withdrew 110.5 billion Swiss francs ($120.29 billion) from Switzerland’s second-largest bank, in the last three months of 2022.
In response to a question on the distribution of withdrawals in the period Chief Executive Ulrich Koerner told analysts on the day earnings were reported that more than 85% of the outflows in the last quarter happened in October and November, according to a transcript of the call.
Credit Suisse confirmed the conclusion of the review by FINMA.
On Friday the bank’s shares fell to a new record low as a global rout in banking stocks added to investor concern about the bank. Credit Suisse on Thursday was forced to postpone the publication of its annual report after a late-night query from U.S. regulators.
($1 = 0.9186 Swiss franc)
(Reporting by Noele Illien in Zurich, Editing by Louise Heavens and Matthew Lewis)
