Ukraine conflict pushes Credit Suisse

ZURICH: Credit Suisse, the Swiss banking behemoth, said Wednesday that legal expenses and the financial consequences of Ukraine’s war pushed it farther into the red in the first three months of the year.

“The first quarter of 2022 has been marked by volatile market conditions and client risk aversion,” Switzerland bank said in a statement.

“The economic environment and market conditions throughout the quarter placed challenges on a number of our business areas with changes in interest rate expectations, inflationary pressures, as well as geopolitical tensions impacting wider market conditions and business activity,” the statement said.

Credit Suisse, which had previously warned a week ago that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine would cost them money, calculated that the corresponding losses were 206 million Swiss francs (200 million euros, $214 million) from January to March.

As a result, the bank’s net loss for the three-month period was 273 million francs, slightly higher than the loss of 252 million francs a year earlier.

Furthermore, Credit Suisse stated that its operational expenditures increased year over year, owing to higher litigation expenses of 703 million francs.

Looking ahead, Credit Suisse warned that “the combination of the current geopolitical situation following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the significant monetary tightening initiated by several of the major central banks in response to inflation concerns have resulted in heightened volatility and client risk aversion so far this year.”

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