Qatar Investment Authority Increases Holding in Credit Suisse

Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund has increased its stake in Credit Suisse to 6.87%.

The investment means that the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) is now the Swiss bank’s second-largest shareholder after Saudi National Bank (SNB), Reuters reported on Monday (Jan. 23)

Other significant shareholders listed by the Swiss stock exchange include Blackrock and the Olayan Group.

SNB raised its own stake in Credit Suisse as part of a series of capital raises the bank has instigated in recent months, most recently a 2.24 billion Swiss francs ($2.43 billion) raise announced in December.

The new capital has been deemed necessary by Credit Suisse to finance a major restructuring that will see the bank slim down its investment banking arm and allocate almost 80% of capital to its wealth management, Swiss bank, asset management and markets divisions by 2025.

Commenting on the December capital raise, Ulrich Körner, CEO at Credit Suisse, said “the successful completion of the capital increase is a key milestone for the new Credit Suisse. It will allow us to further support our strategic priorities from a position of capital strength and create a simpler, more stable and more focused bank built around client needs, and generating value for shareholders.”

Another aspect of the bank’s new strategy is the acceleration of cost reductions. Credit Suisse has said it intends to reduce the group’s cost base by 15%, or approximately 2.5 billion Swiss francs ($2.71 billion) to 14.5 billion Swiss francs ($15.71 billion) by 2025.

Like many banks, Credit Suisse has already begun to cut costs by reducing its headcount, especially in its investment banking business.

As PYMNTS reported on Sunday (Jan. 22), the past few months have seen banks including Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse slash more than 15,000 jobs, with many observers expecting further cuts.

The layoffs follow several years of hiring and banks’ reluctance to let go of workers during the pandemic, the report notes.

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