Credit Suisse to buy back $4.4 billion of securities

 (Reuters) - Credit Suisse (CSGN.VX) said on Monday it planned to buy back up to 4 billion Swiss francs ($4.4 billion) in outstanding securities in a bid to comply with the new Swiss and Basel III global capital adequacy rules. 

The tender was for public Tier 1 and Tier 2 instruments, Credit Suisse said.

 

"Credit Suisse continues to take a proactive approach to satisfy the new capital requirements, aimed at transitioning its capital structure well in advance of the required implementation dates," Chief Financial Officer David Mathers said in a statement.

 

As part of the Swiss government's tough new capital rules, flagship banks UBS (UBSN.VX) and Credit Suisse, whose balance sheets are several times the size of the Swiss economy, have begun to issue loss-absorbing forms of capital, including contingent convertible bonds, or CoCos, which turn into shares if the issuer hits trouble.