By Scott Kanowsky
Investing.com -- Shares in Credit Suisse Group AG (SIX:CSGN) tumbled to an intraday record low on Tuesday on a report that Switzerland's financial watchdog is reviewing remarks from chairman Axel Lehmann about bank outflows.
According to two sources quoted by Reuters, the regulator is looking into how much Lehmann and other executives were aware that customer withdrawals were happening even as he said in media interviews that outflows had ceased.
In early December, Lehmann told the Financial Times that outflows had "completely flattened out" and "partially reversed" after a heavy amount of withdrawals in October. He later told Bloomberg Television that the outflows had "basically stopped."
Finma is aiming to gauge whether the comments were misleading, Reuters reported. One source told the news service that Lehmann may have been briefed with incorrect information before the interviews.
A Finma spokesperson declined to comment to Reuters, while a Credit Suisse spokesperson said the lender does "not comment on speculation."
The report comes after Switzerland's second-largest bank unveiled a broad overhaul of its operations in October in the wake of a series of corporate scandals and disappointing earnings that have caused its share price to slide by over 60% and its debt ratings to tank.