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Qatar Buys Credit Suisse Shares, Prime Minister Says (Update5)

By Janine Zacharia and Will McSheehy

Feb. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Qatar is buying shares in Credit Suisse Group and plans to spend as much as $15 billion on European and U.S. bank stocks over the next year, the Gulf state''s prime minister said in an interview.

``We have a relation with Credit Suisse and we bought some of the stock from the market, actually, but I cannot say what percentage because still we are in the process,'''' Sheikh Hamad bin Jasim bin Jaber al-Thani, who is also chief executive officer of the Qatar Investment Authority, said in an interview late yesterday in Doha.

Persian Gulf sovereign wealth funds, whose coffers are swelling from near-record oil prices, and counterparts in Asia have been snapping up stakes in banks battered by U.S. subprime mortgage losses. Citigroup Inc. received $14.5 billion from investors including Singapore and Kuwait since mid-December.

``Subprime losses are clearly not confined to U.S. banks and European banks are seeking funding,'''' Giyas Gokkent, head of research at National Bank of Abu Dhabi PJSC, said in a phone interview today. ``Gulf funds have surpluses to spend and are looking for long-term appreciation. If investments help develop their domestic financial markets too, so much the better.''''

Bruno Daher, Credit Suisse''s Dubai-based co-CEO for the Middle East, declined to comment when contacted on his mobile phone today, as did Zurich-based spokesman Marc Dosch. Credit Suisse jumped 1.60 Swiss francs, or 2.9 percent, to 56.60 francs ($51.33) at 1:13 p.m. in Swiss trading.

Buying Stakes

Credit Suisse said on Feb. 12 that fourth-quarter profit fell 72 percent after 1.3 billion francs of writedowns on debt and leveraged loans. The stock has fallen 31 percent since Oct. 10. Brady Dougan, CEO of Switzerland''s second-biggest bank, scaled back risky investments before the debt-market slump that forced UBS AG, Switzerland''s biggest bank, to report $14 billion in writedowns.

In the past six months, sovereign wealth funds made investments in Citigroup, Merrill Lynch & Co., Morgan Stanley and UBS, which is seeking shareholder approval to raise 13 billion Swiss francs from Singapore and an unidentified Middle Eastern investor through a sale of bonds convertible into shares.

Qatar''s decision to buy Credit Suisse stock in the open market ``makes all the difference'''' to investor confidence in the bank, according to Christof Reichmuth, CEO of Luzern-based Private Bank Reichmuth & Co.

`Sign of Strength''

``They are not selling equity or mandatory convertible bonds to boost their capital like UBS did,'''' he said. ``Even though 2008 won''t be a great year for Credit Suisse either, this should be read as a sign of strength rather than weakness.''''

Wall Street banks have raised at least $59 billion, mostly from investors in the Middle East and Asia. Citigroup was propped up in November by a $7.5 billion investment from the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, the world''s richest sovereign fund, after losing almost half its market value.

State-managed funds in countries including Kuwait, Abu Dhabi and South Korea have ballooned to $3.2 trillion in assets. Fueled by record oil prices and rising currency reserves, sovereign fund assets may gain fourfold to $12 trillion by 2015, equal to the capitalization of the Standard & Poor''s 500 Index, according to Morgan Stanley estimates.

First European Bank

Credit Suisse in March 2006 became the first European bank to get a license for the Qatar Financial Centre, a self-regulated business park designed to attract lenders to the Gulf state as part of a plan to diversify the economy away from oil and gas. The Swiss bank ``has had a long-standing relationship with Qatar,'''' Joachim Straehle, head of private banking for Asia, the Middle East and Russia, said at the time.

When the Qatar Investment Authority sought to buy U.K. supermarket chain J Sainsbury Plc last year, Credit Suisse was among three European banks that agreed to underwrite $19 billion of loans to help pay for the buyout. Qatar in November abandoned the bid, citing ``deterioration'''' in credit markets and demands by J Sainsbury''s pension fund.

The Qatar Investment Authority is the largest shareholder in J Sainsbury, with a 25 percent stake, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The authority is the second-biggest investor in French publisher Lagardere SCA, and owns shares in Middle Eastern banks including Beirut-based BLC Bank SAL and Jordan''s Housing Bank for Trade & Finance. It also bought a $205 million stake in Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. before the Beijing- based lender''s 2006 initial share sale, according to a prospectus published at the time. The authority doesn''t disclose holdings beyond regulatory requirements.

The Kuwait Investment Authority, which manages an estimated $250 billion for the Gulf state, is keen to buy into European financial companies ``if we are invited,'''' Managing Director Bader al-Saad said last month.

Greater Scrutiny

The growing reliance of U.S. banks on sovereign wealth funds has fed calls in the U.S. for greater scrutiny of the investments. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and his counterparts in Europe have expressed concern that a lack of public knowledge about how these funds invest may roil financial markets.

The Group of Seven this month agreed that policy issues surrounding the funds must be ``measured'''' while ``remaining vigilant against protectionist sentiment,'''' Paulson said in a Feb. 9 press conference in Tokyo.

Asked about these concerns, particularly those being aired in Washington, Sheikh Hamad said he was surprised by the resistance and that the idea is to help financial institutions.

`No Political Ambitions''

``The sovereign fund is from friendly countries, especially this region,'''' he said ``They have no political ambitions. They are looking to invest their wealth for the people of these countries.'''' He was speaking in an interview with Bloomberg Television before attending the opening of the Brookings Doha Center, a project of the Saban Center for Middle East Policy based at the Brookings Institution in Washington.

The West and the Persian Gulf have been investing in each other''s economies for many years, he said. Because of high oil prices, ``I think it''s wise to invest it. So I''m surprised for the concern. I know they should have some kind of transparency, which we have,'''' he said.

With a population of less than 1 million, Qatar owns the world''s third-biggest natural gas reserves and 1.3 percent of global crude oil reserves, generating surpluses for the investment authority. It manages $60 billion for the state, Citigroup analysts including Carsten Stendevad estimated in an October report.

Sheikh Hamad also announced Qatar is creating $1 billion funds in Finland and Malaysia similar to the fund Qatar''s Investment Authority announced in December that it was starting with Indonesia.

``We did this with some Europeans like Finland,'''' he said. ``We are doing a billion dollar fund with them. And we will do with Malaysia.'''' The Malaysian fund ``will be around a billion,'''' he said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Janine Zacharia in Doha, Qatar at jzacharia@bloomberg.net Will McSheehy in Dubai at wmcsheehy@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: February 18, 2008 07:40 EST