Credit Suisse AT1 bond write-off hands $1.4 billion loss to Japan investors

TOKYO – Japan investors bought about 140 billion yen (S$1.4 billion) of Credit Suisse’s bonds that were written off when the

Swiss bank was suddenly sold last month,

Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki said.

It is “regrettable” that the fallout from Credit Suisse’s woes affected investors in Japan, Mr Suzuki said at a news briefing in Tokyo on Friday.

Securities firms must make every effort to deal carefully with their customers, he added. 

Investors around the globe are on the hook for losses on the 16 billion Swiss francs (S$24 billion) in risky bonds, known as Additional Tier 1 (AT1) notes, that were wiped out when the Swiss government brokered an emergency takeover of Credit Suisse by UBS. 

In Japan, wealthy clients of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group’s securities venture with Morgan Stanley lost 95 billion yen on the notes, Bloomberg reported last week. Mizuho Financial Group’s clients lost more than 4 billion yen on the instruments, while Daiwa Securities Group’s customers lost less than 1 billion yen.

Japan’s Financial Services Agency will follow up appropriately on how firms are treating their customers, Mr Suzuki said. BLOOMBERG