- UBS sealed a deal to acquire Credit Suisse for $3.25 billion on Sunday after a crisis of confidence.
- Credit Suisse assured staff they will still get be getting bonuses as scheduled, Bloomberg reported.
- Credit Suisse is also urging staff to “continue to work as normal.”
Credit Suisse has told staff that they will still be getting their bonuses and that staff must continue to work “as normal,” various news outlets reported Monday, citing two internal memos issued after UBS sealed a deal to acquire the 167-year-old lender.
“There are no changes to payroll arrangements,” Credit Suisse wrote in a Q&A addressing concerns staff may have, per Bloomberg. “We will pay salary and bonus, where outstanding, as per the previously communicated schedule.”
Employees’ salaries and any bonuses that are due will still be paid on March 24, per the memo.
Credit Suisse also assured staff they will still be paid bonuses for their work in 2023, according to the memo. The bank’s merger with UBS is set to close by the end of 2023.
The merger — which was brokered by the Swiss government — came after Credit Suisse’s share price slumped last week amid jitters in the banking sector over the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank, New York, and Silvergate Bank earlier this month. This put pressure on Credit Suisse, whose outflows have already been accelerating over the past few months.
Investors fear the fallout from the US bank collapses could spread and cause a global financial crisis, and the share price of Credit Suisse — which had been battling scandals for years — has been already been under pressure even before the current crisis.
Meanwhile, the bank is also telling staff that their roles are “not immediately impacted” and that they should “continue to work as normal,” per Bloomberg.
“We know that many of you will have been following the intense media coverage over the past 48 hours on the future of Credit Suisse and appreciate the enormous uncertainty and stress that this has caused,” Axel Lehmann, the chairman of Credit Suisse, and Ulrich Körner, the bank’s CEO, told staff in a separate memo, per Bloomberg.
But they added there isn’t any impact on the bank’s clients and day-to-day operations. “Our branches and global offices will remain open, and all colleagues are expected to and should continue to come to work,” they said, per the news outlet.
Credit Suisse’s share price closed 8% lower at 1.86 Swiss francs apiece on Friday. They are down 34% so far this year.
Credit Suisse did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.
