0932 GMT - UBS Group is among the most mentioned companies across news items over the past 12 hours, according to Factiva data, after the Swiss bank ended a key agreement and backstop guaranteed by the Swiss government related to the bank's acquisition of Credit Suisse. News that Swiss taxpayers were no longer liable for protecting UBS from potential losses incurred by Credit Suisse boosted the bank's share price, which is more than 4% higher Friday. In all, a 9 billion Swiss franc ($10.27 billion) loss-protection agreement and an up to CHF100 billion public-liquidity backstop guaranteed by the Swiss National Bank were voluntarily ended, UBS said. The decision was made after UBS assessed Credit Suisse's noncore assets covered by the agreement and funding at both banks, it said. The move should provide reassurance regarding the health of Credit Suisse's noncore portfolio, Citi analysts said in a research note. "The early voluntary repayment could potentially also help in other matters, such as negotiating the retention of the Credit Suisse Swiss business, in our view," the analysts said. Dow Jones & Co. owns Factiva. (pierre.bertrand@wsj.com)


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

08-11-23 0608ET