At Credit Suisse’s 2023 Asian Investment conference, bankers had the opportunity to meet with Bear Grylls. The purpose was to glean wisdom from the survivalist that could be applied to a corporate setting. Now is their chance. While the TV survivalist once drank his own warm urine while demonstrating how to survive in the desert, Credit Suisse’s bankers are being forced to swallow something even worse – the news that they will not receive bonuses. Thank Switzerland’s finance ministry.

The lowdown

• 🚫 UBS to enter talks to terminate the Credit Suisse/First Boston deal.

• 🚀 Shares in former meme stock GameStop surge after reporting surprise profit.

• 🎤 Google releases Bard, its ChatGPT competitor.

Featured stories

PIMCO went shopping for distressed debt

Bond giant PIMCO bought up distressed debt in both SVB and Credit Suisse and is now preparing for debates about how much, if anything, creditors in each bank should be paid.

PIMCO was a holder of Credit Suisse’s AT1 bonds, and suffered losses of around $340 million on these when Swiss regulators decided these would be wiped out. It is possible that legal action will challenge this decision.

Take a step back and you will see that PIMCO actually didn’t do too badly. PIMCO held other CS bonds worth over $4 billion, so the loss on the AT1 securities was offset by gains in these other bonds.

PIMCO is also a creditor to SVB’s parent company. It is likely that PIMCO only became a holder of this debt in the week leading up to SVB’s collapse, when bonds traded at 30 cents on the dollar. The parent company’s assets included $2.1 billion of cash, which creditors such as PIMCO, of course, argue should go towards repaying them ($). It's always good to buy things when they’re on sale.

The content we're consuming today

• FT: EY, KPMG and the fallout of two accounting scandals ($).

• WSJ: Banks, Investors Revive Push for Changes to Securities Accounting After SVB Collapse.

• Odd Lots podcast: Where stress is showing in the $20 trillion commercial real estate market.

Off-balance sheet items

• Anyone that has either worked as a consultant or had a consultant in their workplace will find some of the scenes in the new series The Consultant a little too familiar.

The bottom line