Switzerland Faces Fresh AT1 Bond Case After Credit Suisse Collapse

2025-07-16 02:22:21

(MENAFN- Swissinfo) A British law firm is bringing a case against Switzerland in connection with the writedown of AT1 bonds during the buyout of Credit Suisse by UBS. This content was published on July 16, 2025 - 13:52 4 minutes Keystone-SDA

Italiano it Credit Suisse, nuova causa contro la Svizzera per obbligazioni AT1 Original Read more: Credit Suisse, nuova causa contro la Svizzera per obbligazioni AT

British-based Holman Fenwick Willan (HFW) wants to drag the Swiss government before the World Bank's arbitration tribunal to seek compensation for investors from Singapore, China and the Middle East, according to media reports.

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The lawsuit, reports Swiss portal Finews, quoting a statement by HFW,“will be filed with the Washington-based World Bank's International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICISID)”.

The plaintiff is a group of former holders of Credit Suisse AT1 bonds: HFW's Singapore-based clients held $80 million (CHF64.2 million) of these securities, while Chinese and Middle East-based creditors held another $300 million.

According to Finews, this would be the first such case to be heard by the ICISID.

The subject of the dispute is thus once again the famous AT1 bonds: during the March 2023 takeover of Credit Suisse by UBS, the Swiss financial supervisory authority Finma reduced the value of these bonds to zero, amounting (in nominal terms) to a write-down of some CHF16 billion. The decision was part of a deal orchestrated by the Swiss Federal Council – under international pressure – outside the existing legal system, on the basis of emergency law and using extensive state guarantees. The move caused an earthquake on the bond markets, generating heavy losses for investors.

More More Credit Suisse AT1 bond 'rip-off' could cost Swiss taxpayer

This content was published on Jun 8, 2023 The Swiss courts must decide if the Credit Suisse AT1 bond write-off was illegal – and, if so, who should pay.

Read more: Credit Suisse AT1 bond 'rip-off' could cost Swiss taxpaye

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