Former employees of Credit Suisse who received bank shares as a reward and other co-owners were paid for them as part of the takeover by UBS significantly less than they were previously worth, a spokesman for the plaintiffs said.
Hundreds of Credit Suisse shareholders, including dozens of former employees, have decided to sue because of the losses they suffered as a result of the takeover of the collapsed bank by another credit institution — UBS, writes the Financial Times.
A lawsuit on behalf of about 500 shareholders of Credit Suisse is scheduled to be filed in a Zurich court on August 14 by The Swiss Investor Protection Association (SASV). The judge is expected to make a decision within a year.
The rescue of Credit Suisse through a takeover by UBS deprived the shareholders of both credit institutions of the right to vote on the deal. At the same time, the 3 billion Swiss francs ($3.4 billion) paid to UBS for Credit Suisse is less than half of the bank’s capitalization on the last trading day before the deal closed, the publication points out.
Many of the plaintiffs are former employees of Credit Suisse who have worked at the bank for a long time and received shares as compensation. As explained by SASV General Secretary Arik Röschke, some employees had shares in the bank, which 15 years ago were worth 80 Swiss francs, but they received only 0.76 Swiss francs for them as part of the takeover. “These people stayed in the bank and now they have lost everything. They are upset that they suffered because of their loyalty,” he said.
Reschke suggests that UBS will want to settle the situation out of court. He explains that if the lawsuit is successful, the bank will need to pay billions of dollars to all shareholders, and in an out-of-court agreement, only to those who sued.