Zurich
The Qatar Investment Authority has reduced its direct shareholding in Credit Suisse Group AG to 4.94 per cent in one of the sovereign wealth fund’s rare sales of the Swiss bank’s stock.
The QIA previously held 5.01 per cent in voting rights and is reporting a sale of shares for the first time since 2008. Qatar’s overall holding — including bonds which convert into equity if capital levels fall below a certain threshold — declined to 15.91 per cent from 17.98 per cent after a rise in the number of outstanding Credit Suisse shares because of its capital increase.
Credit Suisse, halfway through a three-year strategy revamp, raised about 4.1 billion francs ($4.21 billion) in June after tapping shareholders for a second time since Chief Executive Officer Tidjane Thiam took over in mid-2015. The fresh funding will increase its common equity Tier 1 capital to 13.4 per cent of risk-weighted assets, up from 11.7 per cent in the first quarter.
