The Parliamentary Investigation Commission considers the information gathering largely complete on the «CS emergency merger» – the euphemism used by the federal government for the emergency forced sale of the crisis-hit bank to its archrival UBS in March 2023. The commission announced this through parliamentary services on Thursday.

The parliamentary investigators are now moving towards the final report. This report is expected to be completed in the coming months, with additional hearings possible if necessary. The Parliamentary Investigation Commission plans to present its report to the federal councils at the 2024 winter session at the end of the year.

Bank Executives Heard

According to the Commission, its members have conducted over sixty oral and written hearings in twenty-two meetings so far. Those heard included federal councilors and the heads of key authorities and agencies, including the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (Finma) and the Swiss National Bank (SNB), who were in office during the crisis management period from the summer of 2022.

It was also crucial for the Commission to cover the entire investigation period (2015 to 2023) with their hearings, which is why they also questioned former officeholders. Additionally, the PUK heard from various representatives of the affected banks. The Commission also awarded two additional mandates in the field of audit law and audit supervision.

Investigations Determine the Future of «Too Big to Fail»

The investigators emphasized their interest in the events leading up to the actual collapse of Credit Suisse and whether the examined action scenarios were indeed plausible. A central focus was on the development of «Too Big to Fail» legislation over the past few years; in April, the Federal Council published an evaluation with no fewer than 22 derived measures.

In particular, the proposed increase in capital requirements for the «new» UBS is causing heated debates.