UBS is in discussions to take over all or part of Credit Suisse, with the boards of Switzerland’s two biggest lenders set to meet separately over the weekend to consider what would be Europe’s most consequential banking combination since the financial crisis, according to multiple people briefed on the talks.
The Swiss National Bank and regulator Finma are orchestrating the negotiations in an attempt to shore up confidence in the country’s banking sector, the people said. Their intervention comes days after the central bank was forced to provide an emergency SFr50bn ($54bn) credit line to Credit Suisse.
However, this failed to arrest a slide in its share price, which has fallen to record lows after its largest investor ruled out providing any more capital and its chair admitted that an exodus of wealth management clients had continued.