• UBS will take over Credit Suisse, the Swiss National Bank said Sunday.
  • UBS had been in talks this weekend about buying some or all of its troubled Swiss rival.
  • Swiss regulators are planning emergency changes to regulations so it can avoid a shareholder vote on the deal.

UBS will take over Credit Suisse, the Swiss National Bank announced Sunday afternoon.

It is unclear what the final price will be, and UBS has not officially commented on the deal. Earlier Sunday, UBS offered to pay more than $2 billion to rescue its troubled Swiss rival — after initially offering half that, the Financial Times reported Sunday.

The Swiss National Bank said in a statement Sunday afternoon that the takeover was made possible by support from the Swiss federal government and the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority FINMA.

“With the takeover of Credit Suisse by UBS, a solution has been found to secure financial stability and protect the Swiss economy in this exceptional situation,” the statement said. 

Swiss regulators are planning emergency changes to regulations so it can avoid a shareholder vote on the deal to speed up the process before markets open on Monday, per the FT report.

The all-share deal will almost entirely wipe out Credit Suisse investors, with the $2 billion price tag significantly less than Credit Suisse’s market capitalization on Friday, and a fraction of what Credit Suisse had been valued at at the turn of the year.

Its two biggest shareholders are the Saudi National Bank and the Qatar Investment Authority, which have a combined stake of 17%.

In a press conference to announce the deal, the Swiss president said that deposit outflows on Friday made it clear that a stabilization of Credit Suisse was required. 

The rescue deal comes a week after Silicon Valley Bank collapsed, which had a ripple effect through the banking sector and rattled investors who feared other banks could follow suit. 

Shares in Credit Suisse fell dropped 24% on Wednesday after its largest shareholder, Saudi National Bank, warned it wouldn’t be able to invest more cash in the bank because of regulatory hurdles.

On Thursday it secured a $50 billion lifeline from the Swiss National Bank and its shares jumped by a fifth, only to drop a further 8% on Friday. 

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