Ambassador Dario Item

Ambassador of Antigua and Barbuda 🇦🇬 to the Kingdom of Spain 🇪🇦, the Principality of Monaco 🇲🇨 and the Principality of Liechtenstein 🇱🇮

[Ambassador Dario Item @DarioItem]

CS AT1s CASE: The Unspoken Things

The unspoken things by FINMA and the rest of the Swiss political and financial Gotha at the press conference on 19 March 2023. Incredibly, none of the speakers at the press confence wanted to say clearly and transparently that they had decided to write off more than 16 billion AT1 bonds.

https://t.co/s9rWauWXIN

[Ambassador Dario Item @DarioItem]

After Antigua News reported the Novo Banco ruling, we looked deeper: a €2bn bondholder dispute, a 158-page appeal, a 247-page first-instance judgment and a 120-page final ruling delivered in just 23 days. The issue is not only who won — but how the case was decided.

#NovoBanco #BES #BancoDePortugal #Bondholders #BankResolution #SupremeAdministrativeCourt #Portugal #CJEU #EUBankingLaw #InvestorConfidence #RuleOfLaw #SeniorBonds

https://t.co/Dq0VeERXZ8

[Ambassador Dario Item @DarioItem]

Novo Banco bondholders have lost a key pilot case in Portugal.
The Supreme Administrative Court upheld the BES bond retransmission and refused a CJEU referral — a ruling that could weigh heavily on pending investor claims.
In a period already marked by uncertainty for bank bondholders — from Novo Banco/BES to the Credit Suisse AT1 wipeout — Europe needs a faster, clearer and fairer framework for investor justice.

#NovoBanco #BES #CJEU #Bondholders

https://t.co/EN8EleSsBN

[Ambassador Dario Item @DarioItem]

A Middle East oil shock could reach the Caribbean through higher jet-fuel costs, rising airfares and pressure on tourism demand. For Antigua and Barbuda, energy volatility is becoming a travel-sector risk.

https://t.co/WiQhe3WZWI

#CaribbeanTourism #OilPrices #AirTravel

[Ambassador Dario Item @DarioItem]

Credit Suisse has finally answered the US AT1 fraud suit. Its filing offers dense denials — but little direct explanation for the 48-hour gap between “very strong” liquidity and emergency rescue.

https://t.co/M6yCrMCqIE

#CreditSuisse #AT1 #UBS #FINMA

[Ambassador Dario Item @DarioItem]

A U.S. judge has allowed Credit Suisse AT1 fraud claims to proceed in New York, while dismissing RICO counts. The ruling keeps alive litigation over what the bank told the market before its rescue by UBS. #CreditSuisse #AT1 #UBS

https://t.co/IWiFXkkkOT

[Ambassador Dario Item @DarioItem]

A closer look at the issue of disclosure, transparency and timing in one of the most consequential Swiss financial law cases in years.

https://t.co/fglQ4LKjyJ

[Ambassador Dario Item @DarioItem]

The Credit Suisse AT1 case is now before the Swiss Supreme Court.
But a separate debate is emerging: should academic critiques of the Federal Administrative Court ruling have disclosed prior regulatory roles more clearly?

[Ambassador Dario Item @DarioItem]

Personally, I find it ethically questionable for a university professor, in a case as sensitive as that of the write-down of Credit Suisse’s AT1 bonds, to comment on a ruling that has not yet become final and against which an appeal is pending before the Swiss Federal Supreme Court. Our Supreme Court certainly does not need to be prompted by anyone. And I find it even more questionable that an academic does not expressly state, in the scholarly article itself, that she has worked in the past for one of the parties involved. In the scholarly debate regarding specific legal disputes, transparency regarding any prior professional involvement with the parties is normally a fundamental methodological prerequisite for scientific integrity and transparency. The contribution in question contains no indication in this regard.

As for the substance of the contribution, I will limit myself to observing, by way of example, that the attempt to downplay the significance of the email sent by CS to FINMA is, to say the least, audacious. In that email, the bank provided an authoritative interpretation of the AT1 prospectus, stating in no uncertain terms that the contractual conditions for writing off the bonds did not exist. To go so far as to deem it “irrelevant” strikes me as a bit of a stretch. The two academics should also be reminded that, in the case of Credit Suisse, the AT1 capital was not written down to save the bank, but rather to allow UBS to buy it at a bargain price.

https://t.co/rVpCWs9b76

[Ambassador Dario Item @DarioItem]

Lisbon District Administrative Court upheld the Bank of Portugal’s 2015 Novo Banco bond retransfer—retail investors protected, institutional holders hit.

https://t.co/kNEyxCFapI

[Ambassador Dario Item @DarioItem]

New York AT1 Lawsuit, Another Wall of Secrecy: Credit Suisse and FINMA Stretch “Legal Privilege” to Keep AT1 Files in the Dark, again

https://t.co/BzkYkp2ZjN

[Ambassador Dario Item @DarioItem]

Global law firm Holman Fenwick Willan LLP announced that it intends to file a $5 billion investor-state claim against Switzerland on behalf of a "substantial group" of bondholders, bringing yet another claim related to the 2023 collapse of Credit Suisse and the write-down of approximately CHF 16 billion worth of Additional Tier 1 bonds. The consequences of the Swiss Confederation's decision to wipe out Credit Suisse's AT1 bonds are proving increasingly disastrous in terms of reputation and financial impact. Was it really worth it?

https://t.co/eGawFRc7Ze

[Ambassador Dario Item @DarioItem]

Ten years of courtroom silence, €2 bn burned overnight. #NovoBanco case shows what happens when justice stays in the bank—and savers stay out.
https://t.co/Y9GwebQuZv

[Ambassador Dario Item @DarioItem]

More than two years have passed since investors defrauded by Credit Suisse's AT1 bonds filed an appeal with the Swiss Federal Administrative Court. Since then, everything has been at a standstill. The appellants have not even received responses from FINMA and UBS to their appeals, even though these have been lying on the court's desk for two years. As revealed in a document published by Antigua News, the SFAC continues to respond that coordination of all appeals (230 according to the latest official confirmation from the court) is underway. But how long can this coordination last? After more than two years(!), the SFAC is still unable to say. A number of plaintiffs have now decided to appeal to the Swiss Supreme Court for delayed justice.

https://t.co/kD216HlkJd

[Ambassador Dario Item @DarioItem]

@bullriders1 😂

[Ambassador Dario Item @DarioItem]

@StefanoPutinati Grandissimo

[Ambassador Dario Item @DarioItem]

Report of the Swiss Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry into the Credit Suisse affair: the mountain gave birth to a mouse

It was a unique opportunity to identify responsibility and engage in self-criticism. However, the Swiss Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry mostly shrugged it off and turned a blind eye.

It is particularly disappointing that the Commission failed to assess the accuracy of the statements made by Credit Suisse representatives (Lehmann and Körner), FINMA, and the Federal Council (Keller-Sutter) during the week of March 15, 2023.

It is clear that at the very least, misleading statements were made that artificially inflated the markets.

Even more disappointing is that the Commission invokes the principle of separation of powers—apparently a contradiction in terms—to avoid confronting the legitimacy of the AT1 write-down.

We are discussing as much as 16 billion CHF in bonds that disappeared, which certainly deserved more thorough consideration. Investors eagerly awaited clear answers from politicians—answers that would clarify whether the rules were followed or violated in the Credit Suisse case.

Regrettably, this trust has been repeatedly betrayed. Swiss politics has shown its limitations. The Commission turned out to be yet another unnecessary waste of resources—a sad chapter for the rule of law.

The overall situation is quite disheartening. Investors have been waiting more than a year and a half for the Swiss Federal Administrative Court to provide FINMA's and UBS's responses to their appeals.

I find no justification for this delay. Many investors are now turning their attention and hope to U.S. courts—which are moving much more swiftly than those in Switzerland—and to international arbitration, options that are largely inaccessible to Swiss investors.

In its conclusions to the more than 500-page report, the Commission states that it has drawn important lessons, which it recommends to all relevant authorities. I would argue that the investors who have been misled have certainly learned their own lessons.

https://t.co/pp7ozRQHvY

[Ambassador Dario Item @DarioItem]

Antigua News triumphs again: Crowned Best Online Newspaper in the Caribbean for the second consecutive year !

https://t.co/qzWnVkUC1G