Ammar Al Khudairy steps down as chairman of Saudi National Bank after Credit Suisse fiasco

Ammar Al Khudairy steps down as chairman of Saudi National Bank after Credit Suisse fiasco

Riyadh: Ammar Al Khudairy, the chairman of Saudi National Bank and which is Credit Suisse Group AG's largest shareholder, has resigned just days after his comments helped spark a slump in the Swiss lender's shares. Al Khudairy, who became chairman of Saudi National Bank in 2021 when it was created via a merger of National Commercial Bank and Samba Financial Group, is leaving 'due to personal reasons' and will be replaced by CEO Saeed Mohammed Al Ghamdi, according to a statement. Speaking in an interview with Bloomberg TV earlier this month, Al Khudairy said 'absolutely not' when asked if Saudi National Bank would be open to further investments in Credit Suisse if there was another call for additional liquidity. The Swiss bank's stock plunged to the lowest level on record and its credit spreads surged following his comments. That helped drag all European banks lower as investors shied away from risk following the collapse of three lenders in the US. Days later, UBS Group AG agreed to buy Credit Suisse in a historic, government-brokered deal aimed at containing a crisis of confidence that had started to spread across global financial markets. UBS offered to pay 3 billion francs ($3.3 billion)