Are The Qataris Looking To Buy 5% of Credit Suisse?

By John Carney

Last week the Prime Minister of Qatar told CNBC’s Maria Bartiromo that the Qatar Investment Authority was “doing something” with one of the Swiss banks, prompting many conclude that the rumors of a large capital injection were true. But the Prime Minister insisted that he wasn’t taking a passive “capital injecting” role but had been out in the market buying stocks.
So which Swiss bank was the QIA “doing something” with and what were they doing? That coy little primte minister wasn’t saying last week but this morning the Sunday Telegraph reports that the QIA is considering buying as much as a 5% stake in Credit Suisse. The rules of the Swiss stock exchange require disclosure if an investment his 3 per cent of the company, and so far no disclosure has been forthcoming.
The Telegraph puts this in context:

Sovereign wealth funds from Abu Dhabi, China, Dubai and Singapore have snapped up large stakes in banks such as Citigroup, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley and UBS as they wilted under the weight of huge losses related to the implosion of the American sub-prime mortgage industry.
Any investment in Credit Suisse by the QIA or another sovereign investor would, however, be seen differently. Other than a $1.9bn writedown related to the sub-prime crisis announced in November, the bank has so far emerged comparatively unscathed from the credit crunch and has avoided the need to seek recourse to cash-rich foreign governments in order to recapitalise its balance sheet.

Qataris poised to snap up $3bn stake in Credit Suisse [Sunday Telegraph]

Comments (12)

  1. 1
    Posted by Anonymous | January 28, 2008 at 10:09 AM

    I had a Qatari 2600, i loved to play donkey kong on that thing

  2. 2
    Posted by checking | January 28, 2008 at 10:17 AM

    That’s “Cuddaris”, right?

  3. 3
    Posted by Anonymous | January 28, 2008 at 10:56 AM

    so it wasn’t the “Cutter Investment Authority”?

  4. 4
    Posted by anonymous | January 28, 2008 at 11:09 AM

    I didn’t like their cover of Don Henley’s “Boys of Summer”.

  5. 5
    Posted by Anonymous | January 28, 2008 at 11:13 AM

    JC, you are ON FIRE today!
    Five posts and it’s not even noon!
    Great job.

  6. 6
    Posted by stellar job | January 28, 2008 at 11:16 AM

    now just divide that by how many he did last week and it’ll be something like 2 a day! great work carney.

  7. 7
    Posted by NotNasser | January 28, 2008 at 11:33 AM

    I thought it was Apple that was buying Swiss. Or maybe Dubai. Or Abu Dhabi. Or, heck … some Arab guys.

  8. 8
    Posted by Anonymous | January 28, 2008 at 11:44 AM

    some terrorist abu dubai

  9. 9
    Posted by Thanks Carney | January 28, 2008 at 11:48 AM

    Don’t let ‘em get to you Carney. You are doing a good job. Sorry to say, when Bess publishes she attracts the Anonymous type…..pain in the ass.

  10. 10
    Posted by Anonymous | January 28, 2008 at 11:54 AM

    ok “thanks carney” i.e. “carney’s mom”

  11. 11
    Posted by LogOffNow | January 28, 2008 at 1:00 PM

    Isn’t he the emir? And yes, MB flirted with him after he played the coquette with her…

  12. 12
    Posted by IN THE KNOW | January 28, 2008 at 2:50 PM

    THIS IS THE MOST INACCURATE POST AND NEWS ARTICLE OF THE DAY. PEOPLE SHOULD CHECK THEIR FACTS. TOTALL ABSURD

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