UBS agrees to buy Credit Suisse for $3.3bn

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UBS has agreed to buy stricken rival Credit Suisse for $3.3bn, following a long weekend of negotiations with the Swiss government and regulators.

The deal was agreed yesterday (19 March), concluding five days of frantic talks between the banks and authorities, after it became clear that Credit Suisse's market decline was snowballing, putting the country's second biggest lender at risk. Credit Suisse's most recent troubles began last week (14 March) after its delayed annual report revealed it had "material weaknesses" in its internal controls over financial reporting and risk assessments in the prior two years. This followed months of reporting on various scandals affiliated with the firm, which had negatively impacted its profi...