Saudi National Bank lost $1B on Credit Suisse — a chairman's comment that sank a bank

Saudi National Bank (SNB) was the largest commercial bank in Saudi Arabia and a major investor in Credit Suisse. In late 2022, SNB invested $1.4 billion in Credit Suisse, acquiring a 9.9% stake as part of the Swiss bank's efforts to raise capital amid a series of scandals and losses.

In March 2023, SNB Chairman Ammar Al Khudairy stated in a Bloomberg interview that the bank would not increase its investment in Credit Suisse due to regulatory constraints that would trigger a 10% ownership threshold. The comment was widely interpreted as a lack of confidence in Credit Suisse's turnaround, triggering a massive sell-off in Credit Suisse shares.

The sell-off accelerated into a full-blown confidence crisis. Credit Suisse's stock price collapsed, and within days the bank was forced into an emergency takeover by UBS, orchestrated by Swiss regulators. SNB's $1.4 billion investment was largely wiped out, with a loss of approximately $1 billion.

The case is notable because SNB's loss was not caused by a bad investment decision alone — it was triggered by the chairman's own public statement about not investing more, which was interpreted as a lack of confidence and became a self-fulfilling prophecy.