Saudi National Bank (SNB) Chairman Ammar Abdul Wahed Al Khudairy, Credit Suisse’s top shareholder, has resigned, a couple weeks after he commented in a television interview with Bloomberg that he was not open to new investment in the Swiss troubled lender. The comments sparked the crisis at Credit Swiss and its eventual
$3.3 bn takeover by rival UBS on March 19.
Saudi National Bank, which owns 9.9% of Credit Suisse, having invested CHF1.4B (US$1.5B) in November 2022, at CHF3.82 per share, said in a statement Monday (March 27) that Chairman Ammar Abdul Wahed Al Khudairy was resigning from its board. According to the statement, the move was due to “personal reasons.”
Along with the resignation of Al Khudairy, the Saudi bank also accepted the resignation of Managing Director & Group Chief Executive Officer Saeed Mohammed Al Ghamdi in order to replace Al Khudairy. At the same time, Talal Ahmed Al Khereiji, Saudi National Bank deputy CEO, will become Acting Chief Executive Officer. All changes are effective from March 27.
No more money for Credit Suisse
That's what Saudi National Bank Chairman Ammar Abdul Wahed Al Khudairy told @youseftv when asked about more assistance for the troubled lender https://t.co/GFLboCOwyj pic.twitter.com/iSjco40v8D
— Bloomberg TV (@BloombergTV) March 15, 2023
Credit Suisse has been struggling for months.  The takeover of the 166 year-old lender aimed at containing a crisis of confidence that had started to spread across world financial markets.
Earlier this month, the global banking sector was thrown into chaos after the collapse of the US-based Silicon Valley Bank, making it the second-largest banking failure in US history. The collapse has led to uncertainty across the industry, leading to worries that it could spark a collapse akin to the 2008 financial disaster that plunged several Western economies into recession.
In the last two weeks US, UK and European central banks have increased their interest rates by a combined 1% amidst concerns over the banking system.
And last week, Deutsche bank, Germany’s largest lender, frightened markets by announcing a bond buy back (not a poor idea in itself, but with market tension so high, a bad piece of timing, according to Caxton.) Deutsche Bank shares dropped 11% in three days of trading.
Earlier today, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), a US government agency that insures bank deposits up to a certain amount, inked a deal for North Carolina lender First Citizens to buy Silicon Valley Bank. The UK government brokered a deal for HSBC to buy Silicon Valley Bank’s UK operations for £1 in a rescue deal two weeks ago.