Jeff Gundlach is a renowned U.S. investor known on Wall Street as the «Bond King». In a comparison of embattled Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse, Gundlach expressed more concern for the Swiss bank than for the German lender.
Jeff Gundlach, who oversees more than $100 billion at Los Angeles-based DoubleLine, has warned in recent days about investor speculation weighing on Frankfurt's Deutsche Bank.
The prominent finance executive said he is convinced that the German government would step in to prevent a collapse of Deutsche, should it become necessary.
But he voiced doubts about Switzerland's ability to salvage Credit Suisse, whose shares have also slid.
Swiss Government Rescue?
«Deutsche Bank will be supported by Germany if push comes to shove, but what about Credit Suisse, which has shown a similar decline in stock price? Who’s there to bail them out?» Gundlach asked rhetorically at an investor conference in New York, according to a report in «Zerohedge».
The Swiss government coordinated a $60 billion rescue package for UBS in 2008 after the bank began drowning in more than $50 million in mortgage-related losses.
The renowned bond investor went on to slam negative interest rates in Europe for suffocating the continent's banks.
Deutsche Troubles
«You cannot save your faltering economy by killing your financial system and one of the clear poster children for this is Deutsche Bank’s stock price,» Gundlach said according to the report.
The German bank shares have slumped since a «Wall Street Journal» report nearly three weeks ago that it may have to pay $14 billion to settle a U.S. investigation into mortgage wrong-doing.
Deutsche denied the report, and said it would settle the probe for far less. Nevertheless, demand for credit default swaps on Deutsche – or insurance policies against the lender's default – have surged in recent weeks, and the bank has been forced to wage a public relations war over its stability.
