Credit Suisse scraps bonuses, bosses exit after Archegos, Greensill fallout – business live

AstraZeneca is one of the worst performers on the FTSE 100 this morning:

It comes after the vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi confirmed reports that the UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is considering restricting use of the Oxford/AstrtaZeneca vaccine in people under 30, amid concerns about rare blood clots.

A decision could be made as early as Tuesday.

In the last month, Germany, Italy, France, Spain and the Netherlands have paused the vaccine’s rollout while the EMA investigates.

The vaccine maker is also being hit by news over the weekend that the US has blocked production of the AstraZenaeca/Oxford jab a manufacturing plant in Baltimore, after more than 15 million doses of a separate vaccine produced by Johnson & Johnson were spoiled.

And the belated print from Germany’s DAX shows the index hitting a fresh record after opening 1.1% higher at the start of trading

European stocks are off to a positive start in the first trading day since the Easter long weekend:

• FTSE 100 is up 1.1%
• FTSE 250 is up 1%
• France’s CAC 40 is up 0.9%
• Spain’s IBEX is up 1.2%
• Italy’s FTSE MIB is up 0.8%

Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of the world economy, the financial markets, the eurozone and business.

Credit Suisse has kicked off the morning with a warning it will take a 4.4 billion Swiss franc hit (£3.4bn) over the Archegos Capital fallout. It comes after the US hedge fund was forced to liquidate billions of dollars worth of positions after being hit by margin calls just over a week ago.

Compounded by the crisis surrounding Greensill Capital, the Swiss banking giants says is now facing a 900m Swiss franc loss (£690m) for Q1.

And heads are starting to roll.

In a market announcement this morning, Credit Suisse said at least two executives will be gone by May:

Following the significant US-based hedge fund matter, Brian Chin, CEO of the Investment Bank is stepping down from his role on the executive board, effective April 30, 2021.

Lara Warner, Chief Risk and Compliance Officer, is stepping down from her role on the executive board, effective April 6. Both of them will leave the bank.

Those executives lucky enough to keep their jobs will see their bonuses scrapped this year, including both their short-term bonuses for 2020 and their long-term bonuses linked to the performance for 2021.

Meanwhile, its outgoing chairman Urs Rohner is waiving his 1.5m Swiss franc fee (£1.2m) that would have been awarded for his work over the past year.

Credit Suisse chief executive Thomas Gottstein is taking a hardline over the recent issues. He said in a statement this morning:

The significant loss in our Prime Services business relating to the failure of a US-based hedge fund is unacceptable. In combination with the recent issues around the supply chain finance funds, I recognise that these cases have caused significant concern amongst all our stakeholders.

Together with the board of directors, we are fully committed to addressing these situations. Serious lessons will be learned. Credit Suisse remains a formidable institution with a rich history.

We’ll keep an eye on how shareholders react this morning.

In the meantime, European stocks are broadly expected to rise following the long bank holiday weekend:

The agenda

• 9am BST: SMMT new car registrations
• 10am BST: Eurozone unemployment for February
• 3pm BST: US JOLTS job openings for February