Oswald Grübel (79) still believed in October that Credit Suisse (CS) shares would not fall below four francs. “It couldn’t get any worse,” says the banker legend. He was the only one to run both CS and UBS. “I even bought Credit Suisse shares myself at that time,” Grübel jokes in the “Bilanz-Business-Talk” program broadcast on SRF 1 on Sunday.
But things got worse. CS share fell to an all-time low of 2.65 francs. The price has recovered somewhat over the past few days and is currently trading at CHF 3.14.
Grübel is “convinced” that the CS share will be further recovered, “it will rise again”.
Grübel: Credit Suisse is “safe”
For the banker, the recent outflow of client assets in CS made it clear how “extremely important” trust is to banks. “We have to see if the new administration can stabilize the situation. Let’s give them time,” says the banker. In any case, it doesn’t help that CS executives “tell them every day how bad their bank is”. But: “Legal criticism should be.”
Grübel is convinced: “The bank is safe” and points to successful capital raising and constant monitoring of CS by the Financial Market Authority (Finma).
Former CEO Grübel still follows the markets very closely. He expects the stock markets to fall again next year. Generally minus 20 percent is expected. His advice: “keep liquidity” until you’re more sure of how far down it actually went. “I always hear that 2022 is a bad year. But just wait and see next year,” says Grübel, and the “Business Talk” participants smile.