Boss defends closure of fund

THE boss of Credit Suisse has defended a controversial fund which was shut down with huge losses to investors as market turmoil raged last week.

The Swiss lender’s £1.6bn Velocity Shares product allowed speculators to bet markets would be calm.

It lost 96pc of its value overnight last week as chaos gripped traders, before being shut permanently.

Yesterday, Credit Suisse boss Tidjane Thiam said investors knew the risks. He added: ‘The prospectus is extremely clear – if you invest for more than one day you are likely to lose all or a substantial portion of your investment.’

Regulators in the US and Switzerland are probing what happened.

The bank made a £760m loss for 2017, its third year in the red – but better than analysts expected.