Investor raises fresh question over credit insurance for Credit Suisse
2023.05.18 09:57
© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A view shows the logo of Credit Suisse on a building near the Hallenstadion in Zurich, Switzerland, April 4, 2023. REUTERS/Pierre Albouy
LONDON (Reuters) – An investor has raised a fresh question with the EMEA Credit Derivatives Determination Committee on whether a credit event occurred with regards to Credit Suisse, renewing a push to trigger payout on credit insurance linked to the Swiss lender.
The question, which is asking for a ruling on whether a bankruptcy credit event had taken place, is pending consent by the committee, the CDDC said in a statement posted on its website on Thursday.
The development highlights the fallout from a controversial decision by Swiss regulators in March to wipe out Credit Suisse’s $17 billion Additional Tier 1 (AT1) bondholders as part of state-assisted merger with UBS.
A number of circumstances can constitute a credit event, which – if confirmed by the CDDC – trigger a payout on credit default swaps (CDS), insurance policies linked to exposure to a company’s or country’s debt.
This is not the first time the CDDC has been asked to rule on CDS linked to Credit Suisse bonds. On Wednesday, the CDDC ruled that a Governmental Intervention credit event had not occurred, closing down one of the ways CDS holders were pursuing to secure a payout.
Hundreds of lawsuits have been filed over the terms of the emergency deal to save Credit Suisse.
The 3 billion Swiss franc ($3.35 billion) rescue, hammered out over a March weekend amid turmoil in the global banking sector, upended a long-established practice of giving bondholders priority over shareholders in a debt recovery.
