, Columnist
Liquidity Death Spiral Traps Credit Suisse
Traders are getting increasingly punished for trying to sell unpopular debt at the wrong time.
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Credit Suisse just got caught up in the same liquidity death spiral that has claimed a growing number of debt funds.
Some of the bank's traders increased holdings of distressed and other infrequently traded assets in recent months without telling some senior leaders, Credit Suisse CEO Tidjane Thiam said on Wednesday in a Bloomberg Television interview. This is bad on several levels. For one, it highlights some pretty poor risk management on the part of senior officers at the Swiss bank.