The Swiss government has approved a forced takeover of Credit Suisse by rival UBS for $3.25bn (£2.65bn) after the banking group was brought to the brink of collapse last week, despite securing a $54bn (£44bn) credit line from Switzerland’s central bank.

Over the weekend, UBS Group agreed to buy the troubled banking group for its $8bn (£6.5bn) price based on shares trading last Friday amid fears of a global banking crisis.

Credit Suisse has been struggling for months, but recently sought help from the Swiss government after it had found ‘material weakness’ in its financial accounts due to issues with financial reporting.

In a statement, Credit Suisse said: ‘As of 31 December 2022, the group’s internal control over financial reporting was not effective, and for the same reasons, management has reassessed and has reached the same conclusion regarding 31 December 2021.’

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