Deals & Cases

Homburger advised Credit Suisse Group AG on its issuance of CHF 300 m 3.5 per cent. Perpetual Tier 1 Contingent Write-down Capital Notes

On August 22, 2018, Credit Suisse Group AG (CSG) launched, and on September 4, 2018, CSG successfully completed, the issuance of CHF 300 m 3.5 per cent. Perpetual Tier 1 Contingent Write-down Capital Notes (the Notes). The Notes are “high trigger” regulatory capital instruments that are eligible to fulfill CSG’s Swiss going concern requirements.

The Notes feature a full contractual write-down if (among other events) CSG’s consolidated common equity tier 1 capital falls below 7 per cent. of its consolidated risk weighted assets (a so-called “Contingency Event”). This means that, in the case of the occurrence of a Contingency Event, the Notes will be fully written-down prior to, or at the latest concurrently with, CSG’s other outstanding (high-trigger and low-trigger) regulatory capital write-down instruments. Since the Notes are eligible to fulfill Swiss going concern requirements, they also qualify for an exemption from the Swiss withholding tax that would normally be applicable to bonds directly issued by the Swiss-domiciled CSG. The Notes are traded on the SIX Swiss Exchange.

Homburger advised Credit Suisse with respect to all aspects of Swiss law. The Homburger team was led by partner René Bösch (Capital Markets) and included partners Benjamin Leisinger (Capital Markets) and Dieter Grünblatt (Tax), as well as counsel Lee Saladino and associate Andreas Josuran (both Capital Markets).