Credit Suisse delays annual report after ‘late call’ from the SEC

London (CNN) Credit Suisse can’t catch a break.

In the latest worrying news, the beleaguered Swiss bank has delayed the release of its 2022 annual report after a “delayed call” from the US Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday evening.

The SEC reached out over revisions the bank had previously made to its cash flow statements for 2019 and 2020, Credit Suisse ( CS ) said in a statement on Thursday.

The bank’s shares, which have been trading around record lows, fell 5%.

“Management believes it is prudent to briefly delay the publication of its accounts in order to better understand the comments received,” the company said.

Credit Suisse added that its 2022 financial results were not affected. They revealed the biggest annual loss since the financial crisis in 2008, highlighting the scale of the challenge the bank faces as it tries to turn around.

Thursday’s news underscores this challenge and will also add to concerns about governance at Credit Suisse. It is now in the spotlight of Switzerland’s financial regulator, which is said to be looking into comments the lender’s chairman made about the health of its finances.

Customers withdrew 111 billion Swiss francs ($121 billion) in the last three months of 2022, when the bank was hit by social media speculation that it was on the verge of collapse.

The rumours, which triggered a sell-off in the lender’s shares, followed a series of missteps and compliance failures that have damaged the bank’s reputation and profits, and cost senior executives their jobs.

Finma, the Swiss regulator, is seeking to determine the extent to which Axel Lehmann and other bank representatives were aware that customers were still withdrawing funds when he told reporters that withdrawals had stopped, Reuters reported last month, citing people familiar with this issue. .

Finma declined to comment, and Credit Suisse told CNN it did not “comment on speculation.”

In October, Credit Suisse began a “radical” restructuring plan that includes cutting 9,000 full-time jobs, spinning off its investment bank and focusing on wealth management.

“We have a clear plan to create a new Credit Suisse and intend to continue to deliver on our three-year strategic transformation by reshaping our portfolio, reallocating capital, right-sizing our cost base and building on our core franchises ,” CEO Ulrich. Körner said on February 9.