Credit Suisse to Raise $6.2 Billion

Credit Suisse to Raise $6.2 Billion

ZURICH—Credit Suisse Group AG said Monday it has issued six billion Swiss francs ($6.2 billion) of contingent convertible, known as coco-bonds, as required by the new Swiss capital rules.

The bonds, which will meet about 50% of the contingent-capital requirement as part of the proposed Swiss too-big-to-fail regime, will be issued with Qatar Holding LLC and The Olayan Group, Credit Suisse said.

The notes will be paid up no earlier than October 2013 for cash, or in exchange for Tier 1 capital notes issued in 2008, and will be issued with a future coupon lower than the Tier I notes, it added. The Tier 1 ratio is a measure of a bank's capital relative to its assets.

The Swiss bank regulator Finma and the Swiss National Bank have urged Credit Suisse and crosstown rival UBS /quotes/comstock/13*!ubs/quotes/nls/ubs (UBS 19.06, -0.01, -0.05%) AG to issue coco bonds as part of a raft of measures to better insulate Switzerland's economy from the collapse of one or both its major banks.

"We have worked in close cooperation with Finma, to ensure the buffer capital notes will qualify under the future Swiss capital rules as contingent capital," Credit Suisse Chief Executive Officer Brady Dougan said.

source: marketwatch.com