UBS retires $7.9B in Credit Suisse bonds in record buyback

UBS Group AG ↗ 0.14% announced on Friday that it is repurchasing $7.93 billion of legacy Credit Suisse bonds, its largest single move yet to shed the debt burden inherited from its 2023 government-brokered rescue of the rival Swiss lender.bloomberg+1

The bank completed nine concurrent cash tender offers covering senior notes denominated in U.S. dollars, euros, and British pounds, with maturities stretching to 2033. UBS originally capped the total purchase consideration at $4 billion but raised the ceiling to approximately $5.85 billion after investor participation exceeded expectations. The offers expired on September 10, with final settlement set for September 14.cryptobriefing+2

Cleaning Up Costly Debt

Some of the retired Credit Suisse bonds carried coupons as high as 9.016%, well above current market rates for investment-grade bank debt. By retiring these notes, UBS can replace them with new issuances at lower rates, reducing its ongoing interest expenses.cryptobriefing

The legacy debt on UBS's books now stands at around $29 billion, down from roughly $90 billion at the time of the takeover in June 2023. UBS ran a similar exercise in November 2025, retiring about $7.7 billion of inherited Credit Suisse obligations. Combined, the two rounds have now removed approximately $15.6 billion in legacy debt.bloomberg+1

Integration on Track

The buyback comes as UBS presses ahead with a broader effort to absorb Credit Suisse. The bank said earlier this year it had transitioned all client accounts booked outside Switzerland and 85 percent of those booked domestically to UBS platforms, and was on track to complete the remaining transfers. UBS's Non-core and Legacy division had achieved a 67 percent reduction in risk-weighted assets since the second quarter of 2023 as of March 31.ubs+1

In the second quarter of 2026, UBS reported pretax profit of $3.6 billion and net income of $2.8 billion. The bank also launched a new share repurchase program of up to $3 billion in late July, signaling confidence that the costly integration chapter is nearing its end.ad-hoc-news+1