Credit Suisse Group AG (NYSE:CS) shares hit new lows today on fears the bank is facing a potential market manipulation rap after the Swiss financial watchdog said it was reviewing comments made by chairman Axel Lehmann in December.
News of the probe sent shares in the beleaguered bank slumping to SFr2.53 (£2.26) this morning.
In early December, the Swiss bank’s boss made comments during an interview saying that outflows had stabilised and even “partially reversed”.
The bank's share price rose by 9% on the back of these comments.
Finma, the Swiss financial regulator, is now investigating how aware Lehmann and other Credit Suisse employees were about the level of withdrawals when the comment was made, Reuters reported.
Credit Suisse had previously reported a sharp rise in outflows as wealthy bank account holders looked to flee what may be a sinking ship.
Outflows reached more than SFr110bln in the last three months of 2022, 85% of which occurred in October and November, according to chief executive Ulrich Koerner.
This means that around 15% of outflows occurred in December, a note from Citigroup confirmed.
The Swiss bank has lost nearly two-thirds of its value in the last year after finding itself embroiled in multiple scandals.
In October, shares fell, and large clients withdrew funds as people took to social media to air their worries following an unofficial report about the bank’s health being made public.
The bank’s woes can be traced back as far as 2019 when a senior executive was spied on, a decision made by a former chief operating officer who was then sacked.
It was also at the centre of two financial organisation collapses, once with failed stock lender Greensill and then again when hedge fund client Archegos failed.
To top it all off, Credit Suisse last year became the first ever Swiss bank to face a criminal charge after it was found guilty of qualified money laundering.