BlackRock headquarters in New York, U.S. on Friday, Jan. 13, 2023. via Getty Images
Michael Nagle | Bloomberg | Getty Images
black rock denied a report that it was preparing a takeover bid for a struggling Swiss lender Swiss credit.
“BlackRock is not involved in any proposed acquisition of all or part of Credit Suisse and has no interest in doing so,” a company spokesperson told CNBC on Saturday morning.
investment related news
He comes after the The Financial Times reported that the US asset manager was working on a bid to acquire the bank, citing people familiar with the matter.
UBS was also suggested as a potential buyer, with the FT reports Friday that he is in talks to take over all or part of Credit Suisse. UBS did not comment on the report.
Credit Suisse’s future appears to hang in the balance after a multi-billion dollar lifeline offered by the Swiss central bank last week failed to calm investors.
Credit Suisse shares recorded their worst weekly decline since the start of the coronavirus pandemic last week, and are down nearly 35% on the month to date.
The last drop in share prices came after the Saudi National Bank revealed it would no longer bring liquidity to the bank, and the result is a lag in its annual results on financial reporting concerns.
The failure of Silicon Valley Bank – the largest US bank failure since Lehman Brothers – and the closure of New York-based Signature Bank have heightened jitters around the global banking industry.
Credit Suisse was already in the midst of a massive strategic overhaul aimed at restoring stability and profitability. He faced various scandals and controversies in recent years, including the fallout from his stake in collapsed supply chain finance company, Greensill Capitalresulting in losses of $1.7 billion.
The default of hedge fund Archegos Capital soon after resulted in another $5.5 billion loss for the Swiss investment bank.
These controversies – and others – have hit investor and customer confidence hard, with the bank losing billions of dollars in deposits as a result.
– CNBC’s Ganesh Rao and Elliot Smith contributed to this report.