The chairman of the Saudi National Bank whose statements caused the downfall of Credit Suisse has resigned

Saudi National Bank (SNB), Major shareholder of Credit Suisse Group Until the purchase of the Swiss entity by UBS agreed last week, he accepted the resignation “for personal reasons” of Ammar Abdul Wahed Al Khudairy, chairman of the council of the Arab entity and whose comments about the Swiss bank were seen as the trigger for the crisis that led to the sale of the entity to his competitor.

Also, in a statement sent by the SNB to the Riyadh Stock Exchange, the bank’s current executive director, Saeed Mohammed Al Ghamdi, will become the new chairman of the entity’s board from today, while Talal Ahmed Al Khereiji will take the temporary position of executive director.

In an interview with Bloomberg TV on March 15, Al Khudairy dismissed the possibility that the Arab bank could increase its investment in Credit Suissewhich fueled nervousness in the market about the position of the Swiss entity and accelerated the collapse of the bank’s shares.

A day later, the Arab banker tried to reassure investors in statements to CNBC, defending that his words only repeated the same message that the SNB has been conveying since last October and that they were used as “excuses” to cause “panic” which, in his opinion, was “completely unduly”.

SNB, which is 37% controlled by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, acquired a stake in 9.88% in Credit Suisse for 1,400 million Swiss francs (1,415 million euros) last fall as part of the recapitalization initiated by the Swiss entity and whose value was significantly reduced after the decline in the bank’s share price.