Credit Suisse investors sue after facing billions in losses

By COURTNEY BONNELL
Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — A group of Credit Suisse investors have sued Swiss financial regulators after a government-engineered takeover of the struggling bank by rival UBS left them with billions in losses. Lawyers said Friday that the investors are contesting an order by the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority that wiped out about $17 billion in higher-risk Credit Suisse bonds as part of an emergency rescue last month. The deal prevented the downfall of Switzerland’s second-largest bank after its stock plunged and customers rushed to pull out their money. Regulators have defended their decision, saying contracts for those higher-risk bonds show that they can be written down in a “viability event.” The investors suing hold about $5 billion in those bonds.