situation into something positive. that's all for this edition of dateline. i'm craig melvin. thank you for watching. ♪ good morning welcome to "street signs." we are live from london and zurich ahead of credit suisse's general annual meeting these are your headlines >> bracing for backlash an tensions running high as credit suisse executives prepare for the first in-person meeting in four years the ceo tells cnbc that investors still have the right

to pursue damages regardless of how resolutions are voted on today. >> we have all legal rights to put into the act and claims to support. l'oreal snapped up the australian luxury brand marking the largest acquisition in de decades. donald trump arrives in new york city ahead of the historic sur render as he is the first u.s. president to face criminal charges. brought down to earth. virgin orbit filed for bankruptcy protection as it failed to get the funding needed to recover from the january rocket failure.

good morning welcome to the program a big focus on zurich this morning. credit suisse's board will face investors in person for the first time in four years today in a gathering expected to be a flash point for anger over the emergency rescue by ubs last month. just six months ago, the lender launched the plan to create a more focused and stable bank now it collapsed and the at-1 bondholders wiped out. the board made two key changes today and will no longer ask shareholder to release it from liability from the 2022 financial results after voting against the proposal which could open it to legal action. also gone is the proposal whether executive should receive

30 million swiss franc bonus in the restructuring plan let's get to joumanna. joumanna, it looks like there is a lot of action taking place on the ground set the mood for us. what is happening on the ground and what is in store for the agm today? >> reporter: absolutely. let me set the stage for you we are in front of the entrance here you see people lining up and filtering through. all of the people would actually be existing credit suisse shareholders they are signing in and going through the registration in and advertise takes of the agm which kicks off in a half hour this is the first agm since the takeover deal announced two weeks ago and the last agm as credit suisse as a standalone bank this is the time for many of these people to come together and listen to what management has to say about the deal and

potentially posing questions i had the opportunity to chat to a few of them. many retail investors are saying i'm not expecting to get a lot from the agm what is done is done i'm here for the spectacle they want to see what other investors say to management. we are expecting inside for things to get heated that obviously kicks off in half an hour time it is not just the shareholders who have shown up here, julianna, but we are seeing members of the public as well. we are seeing protesters show up earlier on, we showed footage of a literal representation of a sinking ship with the words crisis swiss on the front of it. a symbol that is going to show that the public is feeling very sad about the demise of this once crown jewel of the banking institution of switzerland 160-year-old bank coming to this end.

another person said to me this isn't an agm for credit suisse, but funeral for credit suisse. we also have climate activists showing up saying we would not have gotten to this point if banks hadn't been financing the fossil fuel industry that is one perspective. the key is it is a kpivotal moment for the bondholders and shareholders and the people set against the deal i'm happy to bring in the first guest of the show from the institute. great to have you with us. arturo, i'm setting the scene in zurich it is a heated debate going on here in zurich i know that you had been on the news the last couple weeks and had an been vocal with the opposition with the creation of the monster bank of ubs and

credit suisse. why is that the case >> good morning. well, you know, we are in switzerland here and we're supposed to have a fantastic banking market with ubs and credit suisse, we have one single mega bank that will serve the needs of all swiss customers. think about before the merger where we had three universal banks in switzerland one operated in zurich only and now we have just two in the region where i live and ubs/credit suisse is the only bank to give us service. >> reporter: so do you think there is any possibility this deal actually doesn't go through because the public are so opposed to it and of potentially

mounting legal cases from shareholders and bondholders >> to me, it is more on the national assembly that needs to approve the 109 billion support plan for ubs/credit suisse i think all of the other legal matters will be secondary. my perception is they don't have much ground. there is anger and potential litigation by at-1 bondholders, which is not associated. there is not much more to it what happens at the national assembly is key because you will show what is the public opinion in switzerland regarding the merger >> professor, laet's assume the deal goes ahead. switzerland will go ahead with one monster bank and how will

the government foster competitiveness in the landscape by just a single player? >> it will hardly do it. that is why my perception is if the switzerland national bank and regulator keeps the entities separated. with the same umbrella, but operating in switzerland and trying to compete with each other, this would be good for swiss customers. also for the reputation of switzerland as a financial center >> are you already seeing signs of switzerland being damaged as a financial center you just mentioned its reputation as a global financial center now, this increases the attractiveness of other potential hubs singapore, for example, or even london. >> exactly let's not forget that the reason why switzerland was the center of banking and management in the

recent years was political stability and lack of uncertainty. money felt safe in switzerland the first effect is money outflows from kwezcredit suisset are coming to other swiss banks t.banks. it is easy to lose your reputat reputation it is difficult to get your reputation back. the decisions so far, switzerland can cope with the cr crisis i hope we can continue with the determination and i say hopefully the brand of switzerland will not suffer much i think we may see outflow to other jurisdictions like singapore or the uk, but so far, they are not major

besides the ones that happen among swiss institutions >> reporter: arturo, credit suisse was considered to be one of the too big to fail banks around the world after a couple of weeks ago, it put that mechanism to the test at the end of the day, the swiss government and regulator and snb had to get involved. many are upset that the government and taxpayer are eventually on the hook for hundreds of billions of swiss francs what is the commercial bailout, which is what the swiss finance minister called it, what precedent does that set for the resolution mechanic msm for the banks too big to fail? >> the speed at the resolution

mechanism would have been too slow to prevent a crisis this puts into question for other organizations. we need to find ways to resolve the crisis faster. this certainly is a lesson i would say as well that contrary to what many are saying, i don't think we need more regulation. i think the regulation that we have particularly to prevent financial institutions from failing is good in terms of capital. regulation cannot prevent all bank failure you will say we need to reconsider the resolution mechanism. it is not fast enough. >> professor, we leave the c conversation there arturo bris of the imd world competitive center. let's talk about the

corporates this morning. l'oreal agreed to buy aesop for $2.5 billion the largest acquisition for the beauty group in decades and first under the new ceo since he joined in may of 2021. aesop has sales of $500 million. a double digit growth from last year and opened the first store in china last year l'oreal shares up .50% this morning. airbus is in talks with china for plane orders at emmanuel macron prepares for a visit to the country the deal remains in flux macron heads to china tomorrow and will hold talks with chinese president xi jinping. virgin orbit in the headlines. richard branson's venture filed for bankruptcy protection after

failing to secure funding for the rocket failure launch in january. shares are opening down 17%. one fact with the ownership structure. bra branson's virgin group owns 75% of the company abu dhabi sovereign wealth fund is also an owner coming up on the program, the australian central bank decides to pause, but could more hikes be coming? 'ldiusnext ying an and a leg for postage. i remember setting up shipstation. one or two clicks and everything was up and running. i was printing out labels and saving money. shipstation saves us so much time. it makes it really easy and seamless. pick an order, print everything you need, slap the label onto the box, and it's ready to go. our costs for shipping were cut in half. just like that. shipstation. the #1 choice of online sellers.

go to shipstation.com/tv and get 2 months free.

welcome back to "street signs. the australian bank is keeping the rate hike at a pause the rba warned further monetary tightening may be needed as the labor market remains tight, but inflation has likely peaked.

australian consumer prices fell to an eight-month low in february let's look at equity markets. we are over an hour into the trading session. it is contained with the magnitude of the moves higher. ftse 100 is up 0.15% after yesterday with outperformance driven by the energy sector across global equities on the back of higher oil prices with the surprise production cut announced by opec plus breaking it down by sector, retail out in front up 1%. banks also catching a decent bid. real estate forperforming well. food and beverage trading in the red. i'm joined by managing partner and head of chatham europe jackie, wonderful to see you let me pick up on the news out of australia the fact that the rba has paused

with the rate hiking path. do you think a pause is in store for the fed and/or the ecb this year >> it certainly looks like the, cb and bank of england and fed will continue to raise rates this year. maybe one or two more times. the ecb certainly is the most hawkish of the central banks we have a little bit more to go. the markets have been expecting that to come back down next year in 2024. we have the huge hike through 2022 and continuing through 2023 and a pretty quick reversal next year. >> we could see a pause and reversal what is that imply about growth? how do you see the growth picture impacted by what is happening with inflation and what is in store for the rate perspective? >> if we go back prior to the silicon valley bank and banking situation, there was a fear that

central banks were moving quickly and aggressively that was going to severely curtail growth as we have seen in australia this morning, the calming of the labor markets can be said in the u.s. and europe where the labor market is tight. we are seeing headline inflation starting to come down. that is a base effect. we saw the energy prices last year we have not seen same in food price inflation. that is a big concern. the balance of the inflation we pitched in the growth picture was looking more toward growth than inflation we had the start of the banking situation and that, you know, the situation with svb and credit suisse will start to see credit really tightening the credit markets are starting to do the job of central banks by reining in credit and central

banks will start to cut next year >> with the tightening in credit, which sectors are most vulnerable >> any sector that is levered or relying on debt. that takes us into the real asset sector private equity and real estate there is a lot of conversation about real estate and refinancing in the next few years. interestingly, you are seeing real estate market up this morning. i'm sure that is related to the fact that there was a bit for industrial by blackstone with 40% premium to the share price close. while the commercial real estate sector is very exposed today at heightened interest rates, the banks is putting a blanket or negative view on those stocks and they are under valued.

you see blackstone coming in to pick off that value that the market isn't seeing. >> how long do investors have to wait if they follow suit and pick up some of these assets within the commercial real estate sector which are seeing depressed valuations >> i think it is wrong to target that with the same brush if you look at the stocks and they are still seeing good growth and taking the industrial as an example because it is in the public market. it is not highly levered maybe to 30% there are opportunities which of the markets will not be as impacted rental growth is being one and strong sub sectors which is a strong asset class within real estate and not highly levered. >> let me come back to the rate

outlook because it seems that is a big driver of how markets are behaving have you changed your view around inflation and/or rate outlook on the back of the move higher on the oil prices you have seen in the last 24 hours after the opec community came out with the surprise production cuts >> we don't make market forecasts. we advise clients within the context of the market. we haven't seen any major changes quite yet. it would be difficult to pinpoint exactly what the short-term effect will be. we have seen some forecasts this morning from the investment banks seeing oil price back at $100 which is the nice round number that will certainly feedback to energy prices and then ultimately through inflation we shouldn't underestimate the base effect from last year year on year, you still see

headline inflation coming down. >> very clear. jackie, thank you for joining us i appreciate your insight. jackie bowie head of chatham europe on to a topic close to my heart. obesity has tripled since 1975 according to the world health organization a slew of new drugs are promising to revolutionize the weight loss community. i explored how the drugs work on the body and how they revolutionize the weight lost market >> imagine it is lunchtime and instead the craving the cheeseburger, all you needed was a slider that is the reality for patients taking obesity treatment >> i took my first dose and the next two days, i felt this is

aed -- this sat ice tied feeling. >> affordability is a barrier for the drugs. analysts expect the costs to come down as more versions enter the market is there a catch the long-term consequence of the drugs are not known and they are expensive. there are concerns of them getting into the wrong hands this can transform the diet market and experts feel it has just begun >> i encourage you to check out the full video on our web site also, please contact me with questions or thoughts on the new obesebesity drugs. this could revolutionize the way we think about weight loss moving forwards. coming up, tensions run high

as credit suisse shareholders gather in zurich for what could be the lender's last ever agm. we'll be right back. >> lost more than 50%. we would like and we would hope with the arrival of the new ceo that it will bring what he has done in 2008 >> we have lost and i think the leaders have nary a chance of doing that with the companies. i would like the chiefs not to take the bonus again >> hi would be interested to hea the historic moment. i knew there would be a lot of orders to fill and i wanted them to ship out fast that's why i chose shipstation

shipstation helps manage orders reduce shipping costs and print out shipping labels it's my secret ingredient shipstation the number 1 choice of online sellers and wolfgang puck go to shipstation.com/tv and get 2 months free ah, these bills are crazy. she has no idea she's sitting on a goldmine. well she doesn't know that if she owns a life insurance policy of $100,000 or more she can sell all or part of it to coventry for cash. even a term policy. even a term policy? even a term policy! find out if you're sitting on a goldmine. call coventry direct today at the number on your screen, or visit coventrydirect.com.

it's hard to run a business on your own. make it easier on yourself. with shopify, you have everything you need to sell online and in person. you can have your inventory, payments, and customers in sync across all the places you sell. it doesn't have to be lonely at the top. join the millions to finding success on their own terms. start your journey with a free trial today.

welcome back to "street signs. i'm julianna tatelbaum with joumanna bercetche at the agm in

zurich >> tensions run high as executives prepare for the first agm if four years. we will have all of the action. l'oreal thinks aesop is worth it it snaps up the luxury brand in the $2.5 billion deal marking the company's largest acquisition in decades. energy security is top of agenda as u.s. secretary of state antony blinken sits down with officials to discuss the relationship with washington and brussels >> this has been evident for some time. relations have never been stronger and trdonald trump arrived new york city for the hearing over alleged hush money payments he becomes the first ever u.s. president to face criminal

charges. fr credit suisse board will face investors in person for the first time in four years today in a gathering expected to be a flash point for anger over the emergency rescue by ubs last month. let's get out to joumanna who joins us in zurich outside the agm. joumanna, what are shareholders hoping to get from management at the agm? >> reporter: for many, it is an opportunity for them to voice frustration and ask questions. this is the first agm that has been held and first opportunity to speak to management since the deal was announced a couple of weeks ago. many had been showing up here to anticipate what is expected to be highly controversial one. in a sense, it is considered to be what the swiss are calling

the last tango for credit suisse some said it is not at angm, bu funeral for the crown jewel of the banking system it is frustration as we reported, but sadness this institution has come to such an ending it is quiet behind me because people are actually inside the agm where things are about to kickoff. i believe we will be listening in >> that's right, joumanna. let's get to the agm which is kicking off now. >> your security and i would like to thank you for your patience we need to make some formal statements at the beginning of the agm. i'll be brief as you are expecting substantial statements it is important for me to give you time for your questions and statements you have the right to do so and

we would like to create the framework for it i would like to welcome all of the members of the board of directors and executive board here today on the podium from your right, we have the chief executive officer and the general counsel and the chief financial officer. on your left, the secretary of the board of directors, on the site, the notary office executive and the proposed head teller according to pwc, we are represented by these two

welcome lawyer keller who is representing the proxy from the lawyer's office. dear shareholders, we stand here today in a situation no one could have anticipated it's a sad day for you and for us, too. i can understand the bitterness and anger and the shock of all those who are disappointed, overwhelmed and affected by the developments we wanted to put all our energy and efforts into turning the situation around it pains me we didn't have the time to do so and in that

fateful week in march, our plans were thwarted. for that, i am truly sorry i apologize that we were no longer able to stem the trust that accumulated over the years and disappointing you and for that i would like to papologize for that one year ago, agreed to take on the role of chairman of the bank not any bank this particular bank credit suisse i did this knowing full well what the size of the task was and accumulated problems and time pressure and the difficulty of political and macro and economic environment i also knew that in the worst case we might not succeed in our goals that mistakes can happen

and those who are at the helm are responsible, too hence, including me. that was the starting point a year ago it was absolutely clear and unambiguous to us. we needed a come prope-- comprehensive strategic situation. it needed to be overhauled and changed. it was also clear to us that there were unhealthy developments and errant behaviors and wrong incentive systems and there were transactions that should not have been allowed to play out. that we needed to work in many areas, not only on structures, but also on mentality and culture. that is what we wanted to rectify. that was the goal of our

strategy but there were positives sides, too. many outstanding committed employees and satisfied clients and strong core on which we wanted to build. this motivated us and inspired us despite faced with the difficulties, i was convinced the turn around was achievable because credit suisse has many strengths. strong balance sheet and outstanding employees and renowned client solutions. progress was made at many levels regulatory issues and close interaction with supervisory bodies became top priorities within months, the bank's management team was renewed and forward looking strategy was developed to radically adjust the risk and return profile. this gave us confidence.

believe me when i say we fought hard to ensure a successful turn around ulrich and i were aware that the profound transformation would require time and that in year one of implementation, the bank would be most vulnerable october to march was not long enough one legacy issue after another had seen trust eroded and with it patience dwindled and that we failed it is a bitter reality to see that our strategy did not have time to bear fruit until the beginning of the fateful week, i believed in a successful turn around however, rising interest rates,

inflation and market volatility shook sentiment and following the issues around u.s. banks, there were fears of global contagion. social media and digitalization fanned the flames of the fear. this hit us at our most vulnerable in mid march. the outflows of client funds last october were a major setback. working with the regulators, we withstood the trend thanks to the tremendous efforts of our employees. yet, the downward spiral of events leading to this fateful week insurtensified later in the week swallowing everything the bank could not be saved. from then on, our

responsibilities came into play with the swiss government and finma and swiss national bank focusing on national and international financial stability as well as the impact on the global economy. until the end, we fought hard to find a solution that ultimately brought two options. deal or bankruptcy the merger had to go through the terms had to be accepted the only alternative would have been a restructuring under swiss banking law. this would have led to the worst scenario, namely a total loss for shareholders and unpredictable risks for clients and severe uncertainty for the global markets it was our duty to protect the

interests of the share hold ever -- shareholders and protect our clients. we did everything we could within what was possible that's why the board of directors approved the transaction. this was one of the most difficult moments for me conclusion of the agreement with ubs was and completion of the merger is the achievement of the co cornerstone to achieve credit suisse this restores clarity and security and stability until the end, we were aware of the macroeconomics sensitivities as play and at the same time, we believe in the fitness for the future and capital strength and its potential. yet, the momentum of the

emotions and the erosion of trust proved stronger. we failed to stem the impact of legacy scandals and to count negative headlines with positive facts in order to rebuild the confidence lost. credit suisse has been a part of switzerland for 167 years. for many former and current employees and clients and for our fellow citizens, this bank forms part of our swiss identity and the global financial markets. the decline of credit suisse and circumstances and various influencing factors can no longer be changed. credit suisse will unfortunately

no longer exist in its current form in the future what remains is understandably disappointment and bitterness and among the long-standing employee employees, in particular, grief about the end of the bank that we continued to believe in it is now our responsibility to look forward i will work with ubs leaders for as long as it takes to ensure the best possible solutions will be found for employees i'm aware how difficult this situation is for many employees. we are committed to transparency of the process and keeping the time as short as possible.

our focus is continuing to serve our clients and ensuring an orderly and careful transition we are all committed to this merger and we'll devote all our energy to create a new and successful future with ubs together dear shareholders, we've taken responsibility we fought tirelessly to find all options for good solutions for the future of credit suisse. unfortunately, without success that's why we are now at this point that no one wanted to have what i would like to do now is offer my thanks to the shareholders for the trust and support you have shown credit suisse over so many years. i would like to sincerely thank

our employees in particular which have shown unwaivering commit to client focus which has been praised time and again. i would like to thank ubs. i know they will tackle the integration and challenges ahead with great discipline and fairness and prudence. they are taking over a bank that is outstanding employees with the first class client base with many longstanding relationships together with credit suisse, the new ubs will be able to significantly expand and strengthen its leading position as a global wealth manager in switzerland. this opens up new prospects for everyone involved.

thank you. with that, let me hand it over to the ceo ulrich >> thank you very much dear shareholders, clients and employees, i would like to thank you for joining our annual general meeting here in zurich in such large numbers. this will be our last ordinary general meeting. i'm sure i don't need to tell you that i am deeply saddened by this and it personally affects me a lot.

when i was appointed chief executive officer last year, i was fully aware of the enormous challenge that lay ahead for the bank which had a proud history of spanning 167 years. as you probably know, i had worked at credit suisse before and had a lot of fond memories of that time when i returned to the bank in 2021, it was because i firmly believed that i could make a positive contribution and reduce legacy issues and tackle the problems that existed and build a new credit suisse. in short, i wanted to create an organization with our shareholders and clients and all our employees could be proud of. unfortunately, we didn't succeed

in the end we ran out of time this fills me with sorrow. what has happened over the past few weeks will continue to affect me personally and many others for a long time to come many of you are longstanding shareholders of credit suisse and i am aware that many of you are former or long-term credit suisse employees who spent a long time working for the bank i would like to take this opportunity to express my profound gratitude for the loyalty you have shown credit suisse over the years. i understand that you feel disappointed, shocked or angry

i share the disappointment with you, our shareholders. i also share the disappointment of employees and clients and ultimately the public at large in february, we heannounced our financial results for 2022 net revenues fell 34% year on year reflecting declines across all our divisions. we reported a pre-tax loss of 3.3 billion swiss francs and net loss of 3.7 billion swiss francs for the year including significant write-downs of deferred assets. these results are totally unacceptable

but they clearly showed why it was necessary to launch a new strategy which we announced at the end of october of 2022 we had a plan to create a new credit suisse. a simpler and more focused bank built around clients' needs and based on the leading wealth management and swiss bank divisions. the unprecedented radical restructuring of the investment bank with the clear plan was another key element of this strategy furthermore, we had a brand new executive board which was working relentlessly on implementing this new strategy we were executing at pace and were making good progress.

we had already started to significantly de-risk the bank with the restructuring of the investment bank and we were on track to achieve all of our 2023 targets. as he previously mentioned, we were focusing on all measures on changing course and addressing the problems of the past to put credit suisse on a solid footing and to position it as a strong global swiss bank. we worked hard to achieve this right until the very last minute unfortunately, it was not enough in the end the bank had been significantly weakened by the strong outflows of assets in october of 2022 as

a result of unfounded rumors and speculation. at the same time, for legal reasons, our hands were tied for almost four weeks until the new strategy was communicated on the 27th of october, 2022. only then were we able to address the incorrect statements i am extremely impressed by the way our employees rallied and made a huge effort to win back the trust of our clients my colleagues on the executive board and myself also spent a lot of time reaching out to clients to convince them to stay with the bank or come back to us the situation then stabilized

somewhat at the beginning of 2023 in spite of the difficult geopolitical and macro environment. despite the conditions, we he co -- we could no longer deal with the stress the collapse of the silicon valley bank in the united states caused shockwaves around the world and triggered the loss of confidence in the global financial industry we were particularly hit by that and particularly vulnerable at the time while we were able to turn the situation around at the end of 2022, we were unable to repeat the achievement. this is a matter of deep, personal regret to me.

the bank's survival was at stake and we were forced to act quickly. we no longer had a choice. the collapse of credit suisse would have been disastrous not just for switzerland, but for the global economy at large. together, with the swiss government, federal council, the swiss national bank and finma, supervisory authority, we worked hard to find solutions within a limited timeframe. in the end, the merger with ubs was the only feasible option indeed, the announcement immediately brought back stability and created trust and paved the way for an orderly transition in the interests of shareholders and clients and employees and our business

partners ladies and gentlemen, i share your disappointment. after 167 years, credit suisse is giving up its independence. a proud and, at times, turbulent company history is drawing to an end. and something new is being created. the integration of credit suisse into ubs brings together two market leading wealth management franchises and two strong swiss banks to create an even stronger global financial services company. our shareholders -- >> that was the credit suisse agm taking place live in zurich. we heard from the credit suisse

chair and ceo. the message from the chair and opening remarks, i am truly sorry we did not have time to put the bank back on track i knew in a worst-case scenario, we would not achieve the goals those responsible are including me the apology is what we got and investors looking for that apology and a commitment to seeing the merger with ubs through. the agm is ongoing there will be a question and answer portion and it is expected to take place over the course of several hours as joumanna outlined with the coverage from zurich we will continue bringing the highlights on cnbc for now, let's get back to markets. yesterday, we saw strong performance in the energy sector it was best performing market. this after oil prices spiked 6%

after the decision from opec plus nations over the weekend to slash production by 1 million barrels per day. as you can see, we are in for of a fairly muted start to trade historic day for former president trump facing his future in court. on the data front, the february jolts report. we have a couple of key central banker comments. we are trading higher in the european session with ubs in focus with the agm in zurich ubs taking stage tomorrow. l'oreal in focus after the acquisition of aesop expect to hear more about virgin orbit. that is it fore. m thank you for watching "street signs. "worldwide exchange" is coming up next.

when we started our business we were paying an arm and a leg for postage. i remember setting up shipstation. one or two clicks and everything was up and running. i was printing out labels and saving money. shipstation saves us so much time. it makes it really easy and seamless. pick an order, print everything you need, slap the label onto the box, and it's ready to go. our costs for shipping were cut in half. just like that. shipstation. the #1 choice of online sellers. go to shipstation.com/tv and get 2 months free.

it is 5:00 a.m. at cnbc global headquarters. here is the top "five@5. higher for longer or sooner or later. tough questions when it comes to jay powell's next move my next guest says bet on the latter. and reports that apple is joining the ranges of big tech cutting head counts to reduce costs. and here in the new york city area, former president trump set to be arraigned in the manhattan courtroom today. we are live outsid