Credit Suisse to buy back stock as it seeks takeovers

ZURICH: Credit Suisse Group, the Swiss bank, said Monday that it would use proceeds from the sale of its Winterthur insurance unit to buy back a record amount of stock and make money- management acquisitions. The bank plans to repurchase as much as 8 billion Swiss francs, or $6.4 billion, of shares over three years and has set aside 3.5 billion francs for possible wealth management purchases in the United States, the Middle East and Asia, Credit Suisse said during a presentation in Zurich. "We have the requisite resources to grow our business, while at the same time returning capital to our shareholders," Oswald Grübel, the bank's chief executive, told investors. Credit Suisse last month completed the sale of Winterthur to AXA of France for 12.3 billion Swiss francs, raising cash to compete with rivals including UBS in faster-growing markets like Latin America, Russia and Asia.

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