Credit Suisse shareholders say OK for 4.1$ bn capital raise

Credit Suisse shareholders on Thursday overwhelmingly approved a plan to sell 4 billion Swiss francs ($4.1 billion) of new shares to raise capital, allowing the banking giant to keep full control of its profitable Swiss unit. The capital raising plans, announced last month, received 99.35 percent of the votes at an extraordinary general meeting in Zurich.

Credit Suisse announced the capital hike on April 26, shelving its longstanding plans to partially float its Swiss banking unit through an initial public offering. The bank previously raised 6 billion francs in 2015.

"The capital raise of 4 billion Swiss francs will allow us to meet our regulatory commitments and requirements," Chief Executive Tidjane Thiam said at the meeting. "It will strengthen our balance sheet, allow us to continue our ongoing restructuring and, importantly, to implement successfully our growth plans."
Chairman Urs Rohner said in a speech: "Accordingly, we are well on track to achieve a cost target of 17 billion Swiss francs ($17.4 billion) by the end of 2018, which is significantly lower than our original cost target of 18.5 billion Swiss francs."