Swiss parliament to investigate Credit Suisse collapse

"The office advocates a broad formulation of the investigative mandate, ...and the clarification of the events of recent years that led to the emergency merger," it added. Under the rescue deal engineered by Swiss authorities over one March weekend, UBS agreed to buy Credit Suisse for 3 billion Swiss francs in stock and to assume up to 5 billion francs in losses that would stem from winding down part of the business, marking the first rescue of a global bank since the 2008 financial crisis.

Credit Suisse's collapse and its takeover by UBS will be investigated by a parliamentary commission (PUK), the office of Switzerland's upper house of parliament said on Wednesday.

The move comes after two sub-committees supported a deeper investigation into how the government, Swiss central bank and financial market regulator acted in the run up to the emergency rescue of Credit Suisse. The investigation's exact mandate as well as the membership of the commission have not yet been determined, and will be decided by both legislatures during their next sessions, which begin on May 30, it said.

"Given the magnitude of the events and the financial impact, the office concludes that the establishment of a PUK is warranted," the office of the upper house said in a statement. "The office advocates a broad formulation of the investigative mandate, ...and the clarification of the events of recent years that led to the emergency merger," it added.

Under the rescue deal engineered by Swiss authorities over one March weekend, UBS agreed to buy Credit Suisse for 3 billion Swiss francs in stock and to assume up to 5 billion francs in losses that would stem from winding down part of the business, marking the first rescue of a global bank since the 2008 financial crisis. Among the topics under discussion could be the use of emergency laws to ease the state-engineered takeover.

The bank's takeover by UBS has been backed by 200 billion Swiss francs ($225.00 billion) in support from the government, which was determined to prevent Credit Suisse's collapse triggering a broader crisis in the global financial system. The Swiss government has also agreed to absorb up to 9 billion francs in potential losses incurred by UBS as a result of the takeover. ($1 = 0.8889 Swiss francs)

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