The Swiss government continued to cultivate its Middle Eastern ties this week, with the finance minister and CEOs of UBS and Credit Suisse visiting Qatar.
Swiss finance minister Ueli Maurer spent four days visiting Egypt and Qatar, together with a high-ranking delegation of Swiss bankers, the government said in a statement on Tuesday. Ralph Hamers and Thomas Gottstein, the CEOs of UBS and Credit Suisse, respectively, accompanied him on the trip, a spokeswoman said.
The visit to Doha, where the delegation met with Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani as well as the Qatari finance minister and the central bank governor, is of particular interest. The emirate remains a staunch ally of Credit Suisse, recently upping its stake in a sudden cash call following roughly $5 billion in losses over Archegos.
Tight-lipped On Credit Suisse-Qatar
A spokeswoman for Credit Suisse declined to comment on whether Credit Suisse head Gottstein had met with Qatari representatives separately, or discussed the Swiss bank’s current woes. The Swiss government said the talks in Doha centered on «relations in the financial sector and the framework conditions for investments.»
The ministers also discussed the potential of digital technologies in sustainable financial services, the government said. Economic ties between Switzerland and Qatar run deep: some 30 Swiss companies maintain more than 1,000 employees in the emirate.
Delicate Relations
Credit Suisse is in an uncomfortable position: it reportedly sold notes issued by now-insolvent Greensill Capital to Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani, brother to the current emir. The Swiss bank is untangling the dissolution of the funds, which include $2.3 billion in uncertain monies from GFG, which is controlled by Sanjeev Gupta, insolvent Katerra, and Bluestone.
Maurer, who is in his 13th year in Switzerland’s governing cabinet, has frequently taken delegations of Swiss bankers to growth hot spots in the Middle East and Asia. He discussed sustainability with Saudi Arabian crown prince Mohamad bin Salman in Riyadh one year after the murder of regime critic Jamal Khashoggi.
Saudi Ties
The kingdom is also home to another major, long-standing Credit Suisse shareholder: the Olayan family. CEO Gottstein was also among high-profile bankers like Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon and Blackrock boss Larry Fink back in Riyadh this January for a desert summit arranged by bin Salman.
Maurer was also joined on his trip by Julius Baer boss Philipp Rickenbacher, Mirabaud’s top wealth manager in the Middle East and North Africa Alain Baron, Banque Cantonale de Geneve banker Yves Spoerri, Swiss lobby Chairman Herbert Scheidt, and Swiss Re executive Ivo Menzinger.
