Back in December last year, her Swiss banking group UBS considered the potential consequences of a takeover of a competitor Credit Suissethose. months before this process was hastily organized through the mediation of his authorities Switzerland, in early March, according to the latest data. This is a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that also revealed that UBS concluded in February that buying Credit Suisse was undesirable, but that it should prepare in case its competitor faces “serious economic difficulties.” .

This revelation, dated April 26, gives the clearest picture of the way the Swiss think. bank UBS. Moreover, it shows that he studied the situation at Credit Suisse long before the bailout. Most notably, in March, UBS agreed to buy Credit Suisse for 3 billion Swiss francs ($3.4 billion) and said it would incur losses of up to 5 billion francs in a state bailout of 250 billion francs.

In February, Swiss financial sector regulator FINMA said it was closely monitoring Credit Suisse as it faced a “serious” outflow, which, however, added to the stabilizing effect of its liquidity buffers. Days before the bailout, the regulator and central bank, while promising funding if needed, said Credit Suisse remained healthy. They decided to intervene only after clients, shaken by the collapse of two mid-sized US banks, continued to pull money from the scandal-ridden 167-year-old lending institution.

FINMA later defended its actions, saying it acted quickly and asked for more powers to hold banks accountable. Since then, Swiss authorities and UBS have been scrambling to complete the takeover as soon as possible to keep Credit Suisse’s customers and employees, Reuters reported. Speaking at a financial conference in Zurich on Wednesday, UBS chief executive Sergio Ermotti said the bank intends to close the deal by the end of May or early June.

UBS said in a statement that the merger still requires regulatory approval in the European Union, India, Japan, Mexico and South Korea. Last month, it received preliminary approval from European Union antitrust authorities, while the US Federal Reserve approved the UBS group’s takeover of Credit Suisse’s US subsidiaries. Finally, the filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission notes that the merger could be terminated if “the conditions for its completion are not met” by December, but that any unsecured regulatory approvals would not be considered a breach of conditions by UBS.