UBS Group emerged as Switzerland’s one and only global bank with a state-backed rescue of its smaller peer Credit Suisse, a risky bet that makes the Swiss economy more dependent on a single lender.
The unprecedented move announced late on Sunday in Zurich capped a race against time by regulators to avert a meltdown in global markets. Switzerland is pledging more than 160 billion francs ($173 billion) in loans and guarantees to underpin the new group, guarding against further risks undermining the lender.
The transaction — the first rescue of a global bank since the financial crisis of 2008 — grants enormous clout to UBS, ridding it of its main rival. It will change the landscape of banking in Switzerland, where branches of Credit Suisse and UBS are dotted everywhere, sometimes just meters apart.