CDS panel rules UBS is sole successor to Credit Suisse after merger

LONDON (Reuters) -A committee that reviews disputes in the credit default swaps (CDS) market said on Monday that UBS is the sole successor to Credit Suisse Group following the merger of the two banks.

This means that Credit Suisse will no longer be the reference entity for its outstanding CDS, which are a type of insurance against holding risky debt. Instead, UBS will become the new reference entity, with the effective date being June 12, when the merger was completed.

An investor noted that the decision was widely expected and therefore should not have any major market impact.

Unless there is a fresh credit event, the CDS contracts would not be triggered and UBS would not be liable.

In its statement on Monday, the credit derivatives determinations committee also said that an administrator was in the process of evaluating and selecting the standard reference obligation within UBS for Credit Suisse’s senior and subordinated instruments.

This was in response to a separate investor question posed to the committee to determine — in the event that UBS was deemed the successor — the impact of the merger on the transactions that had Credit Suisse as reference entity, particularly at the level of subordinated debt.

Investors’ hopes for a payout on Credit Suisse’s CDS had been dashed twice by the committee, which said that neither a so-called government intervention credit event nor a bankruptcy credit event had occurred.

(Reporting by Chiara Elisei, editing by Karin Strohecker)