Former top Credit Suisse shareholder sells full bank stake

American businessman, David Herro, said on Sunday that Harris Associates, one of Credit Suisse’s major shareholders, sold its stake in the Swiss bank over the past few months.

Herro did not specify a reason for the sale, however, he told the Financial Times earlier that Harris has sold the stake after losing patience with Credit Suisse’ strategy to create losses and a client exodus.

Harris disclosed a stake of around 10 percent in the bank in August of 2022, but reduced it to 5 percent in January of this year.

Herro added that Harris started to cut its exposure in October right after Credit Suisse raised 4 billion Swiss francs from the investors. In addition to when the Saudi National Bank supplanted it the Credit Suisse as the top investor.

According to the newspaper, Herro said “there is a question about the future of the franchise. There have been large outflows from wealth management,”

Credit Suisse already reported a huge increase in the number of withdrawals in the fourth quarter with outflows of more than 110 billion Swiss francs.

“We have lots of other options to invest. Rising interest rates mean lots of European financials are headed in the other direction. Why go for something that is burning capital when the rest of the sector is now generating it?” he added.

According to Reuters, Credit Suisse said that they are ahead of their plan and that they have clear strategic objectives.

Switzerland’s second biggest bank has also begun a huge overhaul of its business. The bank has cut costs and jobs to revive its fortune, and it also created a separate business for its investment bank with the CS First Boston brand.

Credit Suisse announced last month its biggest annual loss since the 2008 global financial crisis. The bank is also warning of another substantial loss this year.