The takeover of Credit Suisse by its rival UBS for 3 billion Swiss francs was an earthquake in the Swiss banking world. This decision also aroused the anger not only of shareholders, but also of a large part of the Swiss population.
Announcement effect? New revolution?
The total assets of this merger acquisition are twice as large as the GDP (gross domestic product) of Switzerland.
To date, only Finland can claim to have the same situation…
Confidence in European banks has collapsed. Despite the reassuring messages from the main leaders of the neighbouring countries, the Swiss banking world is in a state of flux between doubt and concern.
Even UBS executives have acknowledged to their shareholders that the hasty takeover of their competitor was a major challenge. But then, what is the impact for investors?
This is what we propose you to discover in the following article.
The acquisition of Credit Suisse by UBS
This is the story of a bank merger between a 167 year old institution and its number two.
The Zurich banking centre is in turmoil and rumours are flying. The former CEO of Credit Suisse between 2015 and 2020, Tidjane Thiam, mentioned the only relevant merger at the European level.
Was he a precursor in his time? Perhaps.
This statement correlates perfectly with the consequences of the position taken by the former chairman of Credit Suisse’s first investor (Saudi National Bank), Ammar Al Khudairy, to stop injecting money.
The desire of U.S. regulators to gain control of Silicon Valley Bank would quickly echo the losses of billions of francs at Credit Suisse that evaporated because of a leaked bankruptcy rumour.
Is there a lack of control?
The triumvirate of the SNB, the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) and Swiss Finance Minister Karin Keller-Sutter have ordered Credit Suisse Chairman Axel Lehmann and his CEO to merge with UBS.
The Swiss government has therefore completely abandoned the principle of the two-bank model and the rescue of Credit Suisse by taxpayers’ money. Ironically, the government had helped UBS in 2008 because of the subprime crisis.
Thus, the acquisition of Credit Suisse by UBS extinguishes the risk of a banking crisis spreading to the European level.
At present, there is no longer any talk of systemic risk, however, it should be remembered that this takeover characterises the phenomenon of banking concentration. The damage and losses are likely to be substantial for jobs and investors.
According to a survey conducted by the gfs.berne institute on behalf of SRG, more than 80 percent of those polled fear mass layoffs in the banking sector.
A large majority believes that the business location will be weakened and its reputation tarnished.
The inflationary context and the rise in interest rates are a challenge. There is anger and emotion about the takeover of Credit Suisse by UBS.
However, half of the respondents remain confident and believe in the resilience of the Swiss economic sector.
The people demand three measures:
- Credit Suisse’s Board of Directors is accountable;
- Acting against abusive remuneration in the banking sector;
- Find a healthy balance between risk management (limit government intervention) and profits (better distributed, not private).
As in 2008, the solution came from the country’s initiative to find alternative options to adapt. From this point of view, participatory real estate investment is in the front line!
The alternative of participatory real estate investment
In a context of banking instability, the participative investment proposed by SIPA Crowd Immo Real Estate presents itself as a stable, safe and tangible alternative to the financial markets and even to the bank savings considered so safe until now.
Investors can acquire one or more shares of property with an affordable entry ticket (from CHF 49,000) and become co-owners around the group purchase of a rental property.
Each investor becomes the owner of a fraction of a building without raising the funds necessary to own a whole lot.
Thus, everyone can generate a proportional return on their investment (between 4% and 7% per year net) and realise a capital gain when resold.
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