First victory in the Swiss lawsuit – Finma forced to divulge decree to Credit Suisse AT1 bondholders!

This is not only technically a big step in the proceedings – but the content of the decree sheds a completely different light on the case and raises the chances of the bondholders to prevail in contesting the writedown.

The judge overseeing the case at the court in St. Gallen ordered Finma to hand over the decree last week.

The decree, that had to be handed over by Finma, explicitly sets out Finma’s interpretation of the contracts governing the AT1 bonds, stating that the government-backed facilities had a direct positive effect on the liquidity and capital situation and that this satisfied the so-called “viability event” clause in the bond’s documents meaning that Credit Suisse was therefore able to write off the AT1 bonds on its own initiative.

In other words: where until now it seemed to be a battle against a law or and ordinance, in short a constitutional law, the case is now back in the realm of contracts.

Congratulations to the great colleagues at Quinn Emanuel, well done!