UBS offers to repay former Credit Suisse clients 90 per cent of Greensill funds
Swiss banking giant UBS has offered to repay former Credit Suisse clients 90 per cent of the funds they invested with specialist finance firm Greensill Capital, which collapsed in 2021.
UBS said the offer commenced on Monday and would run until 31 July. The group added that it would take a $900m (£710m) provision in the second quarter to cover costs.
The offer will not have a material impact on UBS’s financial results or capital requirements, the firm said.
The move comes as UBS looks to clear the legacy issues of its former domestic rival Credit Suisse, which it acquired in a state-engineered deal last year. The Swiss government feared that severe losses at the scandal-hit lender would destabilise the global banking system.
One of the biggest contributing factors to the demise of Credit Suisse was its exposure to the collapse of a $10bn group of supply chain funds linked to Greensill Capital in 2021.
Greensill had supplied loans to many customers. These were then lumped together and sold off, via a Credit Suisse fund, to outside investors, who would buy a share in the loans and cash in when they were paid back.
These loans were insured, but the firm collapsed when its main insurer – Tokio Marine – decided not to renew the insurance.
“The offer aims to give fund investors certainty, an accelerated exit from their positions and a high level of financial recovery,” UBS said on Monday.
“It will allow an early exit from fund investments compared to distributions under the ongoing recovery process.”
UBS and Credit Suisse completed their merger at the end of last month. It aims to fully integrate Credit Suisse by the end of 2026.