Saudi National Bank Chair Al Khudairy Resigns After His Comments On Credit Suisse

(RTTNews) - The chairman of Saudi National Bank, Ammar Al Khudairy, has resigned days after he commented about Credit Suisse Group AG that allegedly sent the Swiss bank's stock into a tailspin, ending in its subsequent takeover by domestic rival UBS Group.

In a statement, Saudi National Bank or SNB, Credit Suisse's largest shareholder, said it has appointed Chief Executive Officer Saeed Mohammed Al Ghamdi as Chairman of the Board, effective Monday, until the end of the current Board Cycle. The bank also appointed Talal Ahmed Al Khereiji, previously deputy CEO, as Acting Chief Executive Officer.

In November 2022, SNB had made 9.88% investment in Credit Suisse as part of a capital raising exercise by Credit Suisse, and as a financial investment allocation within SNB's investments portfolio.

In the wake of latest banking industry turmoil following the failure of U.S banks Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, deemed as the biggest U.S. banking failures since the 2008 financial crisis, Al Khudairy in mid March said in a Bloomberg TV interview that SNB would absolutely not be open to further investments in Credit Suisse. He reportedly said that with further financial assistance, the stake would go above 10%, and that it's a regulatory issue.

Following his comments, the Swiss bank's stock plunged to the lowest level on record. The shares had been declining after the bank admitted earlier that it had identified "material weaknesses" in its financial reporting for the years 2022 and 2021.

After losing much value, Credit Suisse in mid March said it would borrow up to 50 billion Swiss Francs or around $53.7 billion from the Swiss National Bank as a decisive action taken to pre-emptively strengthen its liquidity.

However, days later, Credit Suisse agreed to be bought by Swiss banking giant UBS as asked by Swiss financial regulators as a move to restore necessary confidence in the stability of the Swiss economy and banking system.