UBS
on Wednesday began selling Additional Tier 1 (AT1) bonds — which were at the heart of controversy during its emergency rescue of Credit Suisse — for the first time since completing the takeover.
The Swiss banking giant is marketing two tranches of U.S. dollar AT1 bonds, a noncall five-year offering around a 10% yield and a noncall 10-year offering around 10.125%, according to LSEG news service IFR. Noncall bonds are bonds that only pay out at maturity.
UBS confirmed to CNBC that it is offering Additional Tier 1 securities, but did not comment on the details of the contracts and said it will provide additional information when the offering is complete.
The wipeout of $17 billion of Credit Suisse AT1 bonds, as part of the rescue deal brokered by Swiss authorities in March, caused uproar among bondholders and continues to saddle the Swiss government and regulator with legal challenges.
AT1 bonds are considered a relatively risky form of junior debt and are often owned by institutional investors. They were introduced in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis as regulators looked to divert risk away from taxpayers and boost the capital held by financial institutions to protect against future crises.
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