Credit Suisse
SPAC Underwriting Record
2021 SPAC IPOs
47
Est. Fees Earned
$1200M
Avg Client Return
-84.8%
Bankrupt SPACs
3
📌 Note
Bank itself later collapsed
🚪 Pullback
Credit Suisse pulled back from SPAC underwriting in 2022.
SPACs Underwritten (13 in database)
💰 The Fee Machine
SPAC underwriting fees follow a unique 5.5% structure: 2% paid at IPO, 3.5% deferred until merger completion. For Credit Suisse, that meant an estimated $1200M in total fees from SPAC activity.
The deferred fee structure was designed to align bank and investor interests — banks would only get their full fee if a deal closed. But in practice, this created perverse incentives: banks pushed marginal deals to close rather than walk away from deferred fees.
When the SPAC market collapsed, several banks including Credit Suisse (in 2022) walked away from billions in deferred fees — but kept everything they'd earned upfront.