Investment Banking

Why Credit Suisse’s bonds writedown is hitting Asia’s richest

The bonds included a clause that points at the potential for them to be wiped out but some investors were unaware of this risk

The full writedown of Credit Suisse’s riskiest bonds as part of its takeover by UBS has left some wealthy Asian investors sitting on big losses.

More than $17bn in so-called Additional Tier 1 securities issued by Credit Suisse became virtually worthless last month, following a controversial decision by Switzerland’s financial regulator. Asian high-net-worth investors — including clients of Credit Suisse’s own private bank — were among the holders of these bonds.

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