Credit Suisse's share price plunged after the leading shareholder ruled out further investment into the bank due to regulatory issues.

After buying First Boston in the late 20th century, Credit Suisse became a bulge bracket investment bank that competed with others globally such as Goldman Sachs.

[10][11] Basel III was criticized as negatively affecting the stability of the financial system by increasing incentives for banks to game the regulatory framework.

[13] Notwithstanding the enhancement introduced by the Basel III standard, it argued that "markets often fail to discipline large banks to hold prudent capital levels and make sound investment decisions".

[16] Credit Suisse chairman Axel Lehmann recalled at the April 2023 shareholders' meeting, after the collapse of his company, that "After the financial crisis we were named the 'Best Bank Globally'.

[18] Social media rumors about the bank's demise in October 2022 aided CHF 111 billion in outflows from its wealth management business in the last three months of the year.

Credit Suisse bonds fell by up to 10 cents per euro in the two hours after Al Khudairy's answer,[23] and its stock declined up to 31% that day.

[16] Credit Suisse executives were aware that they could not control the stock price, but the bonds becoming distressed securities signaled great concern from the firm's investors and counterparties.

[23] Despite the existing post-2008 plan to never again use public funds to save a bank, Swiss authorities decided that they had to do so in order to avoid global panic.

Work at Credit Suisse almost stopped, as employees evaded clients' telephone calls and their own staff to avoid questions on the crisis.

[16] Credit Suisse's one-year CDS price remained at 3468 bps on Thursday, signaling that investors doubted the central bank's reassurances.

[15][16] On the morning of 19 March, UBS made an offer of 0.25 Swiss francs ($0.27) per share, valuing Credit Suisse at around $1 billion, but the price outraged the Mideast investors.

The move forced larger losses on bondholders than on shareholders of Credit Suisse,[5][34] and was done to placate the international investors unable to vote on the acquisition.

[15] President of Switzerland Alain Berset, Minister of Finance Karin Keller-Sutter, and Chairman Jordan announced the acquisition in a 19 March 2023 press conference, alongside the chairmen of UBS and CS.

[1] Tages-Anzeiger reported that Credit Suisse's Francesca McDonagh and UBS's Mike Dargan would lead their respective integration teams tasked with merging the banks.

[39] Kelleher, who was re-elected as chairman, estimated the integration to take up to four years, not including the wind-down of Credit Suisse's investment banking division.

[49] Several former executives told the Financial Times that being almost unaffected by the 2008 crisis caused the 2023 collapse after years of decline, as management thought that the bank did not have to change.

Without a solution, payment transactions with CS in Switzerland would have been significantly disrupted, possibly even collapsed, wages and bills could no longer be paid ... We should have expected a financial crisis worldwide".

[25] The clause of the Swiss Constitution that the government used to bypass a shareholders' vote allows emergency action "to counter existing or imminent threats of serious disruption to public order or internal or external security".

[50] Omitting the vote angered Credit Suisse's large investors; the Financial Times quoted one from the Mideast as saying "You make fun of dictatorships and then you can change the law over the weekend.

[50] At the April 2023 UBS shareholders' meeting, by contrast, there was a sense that the acquisition might be what the Financial Times called "the deal of the century", although Kelleher emphasized the transaction's difficulty.

[54] In April 2023, the Swiss Attorney General's office opened an investigation to analyze and identify whether any criminal offenses by the government officials, regulators and executives at the two banks, had occurred in connection with the acquisition.

Analysts warned that UBS-Credit Suisse deal could extend rather than end the banking crisis, mainly because of the write-off of AT1 bonds worth CHF 16 billion.

AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould said: "It means the banking crisis we've seen over the past few weeks has started a new chapter rather than reaching its ending".

[57] AT1 bonds from Credit Suisse and UBS are unusual in their terms allowing for total write-off instead of conversion to equity; most such securities have more protections.

[68] The stock of Julius Baer Group, which became the country's second-largest bank by assets after Credit Suisse's collapse, rose by 13% during the week after the UBS acquisition.

[69] The takeover resulted in $17 billion of Credit Suisse-issued AT1 bonds being written off as worthless, which undermined the creditworthiness of the newly acquired bank.

[71][72] Bank of America asked its traders and hedge fund clients to stop dispatching trades to Credit Suisse's dark pools as a precautionary measure following the acquisition, according to Reuters.

[74] The acquisition will most likely affect mid- and back-office operational jobs, plus legal, compliance, marketing, human resources, and regional positions; some UBS and Credit Suisse bank branches are next to each other.

It was also reported that Brady Dougan, Credit Suisse's former CEO, earned CHF71 million in bonuses after the 2007–2008 financial crisis which saw the bank's shares plummet.