Qatar Investment Authority doubles stake in Credit Suisse

Qatar Investment Authority doubles stake in Credit Suisse

The Qatar Investment Authority has doubled its stake in Credit Suisse, becoming the second-biggest shareholder after the Saudi National Bank and underlining the growing importance of Middle Eastern investors to the ailing Swiss bank.

The move comes as US shareholders sell down their stakes in the lender, with Chicago-based Harris Associates, which was the bank’s biggest shareholder just a few months ago with a 10 per cent stake, now owning less than 5 per cent.

The QIA, which began investing in Credit Suisse during the financial crisis, doubled its stake in the group late last year and now owns slightly less than 7 per cent of stock, according to a filing on Friday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Together with the SNB’s 10 per cent stake and 3 per cent held by the Olayan family of Saudi Arabia, the three Middle Eastern investors control more than a fifth of Credit Suisse stock.

Buffeted by a succession of crises, the Swiss bank launched a capital raise in October aimed at drawing in an additional SFr4bn ($4.3bn) from new and existing shareholders to pay for a radical restructuring of the group.

The Financial Times reported last year that the QIA would be joining the SNB as