Swiss central bank says it is prepared to support Credit Suisse

Switzerland’s central bank said on Wednesday it was prepared to provide financial support to Credit Suisse, if necessary, after shares in the country’s second-biggest lender plunged as much as 30%.

In a joint statement with FINMA, the Swiss financial market regulator, the Swiss National Bank (SNB) said Credit Suisse complied with “strict capital and liquidity requirements” imposed on banks important to the broader financial system.

“If necessary, the SNB will provide liquidity” to Credit Suisse, they said.

Shares of Credit Suisse plunged as much as 30% on Wednesday and hit a new all-time low after its largest shareholder appeared to rule out providing it with more funding.

Speaking to the media on the sidelines of a conference in Saudi Arabia, the president of the National Bank of Saudi Arabia said he would not increase his stake in Credit Suisse.

“The answer is absolutely no, for many reasons. I’ll cite the simplest reason, which is regulatory and statutory. We now own 9.8% of the bank: if we go above 10%, all sorts of new rules come into effect, either by our regulator, the European regulator or the Swiss regulator,” Ammar Al Khudairy told Bloomberg. “We are not willing to enter into a new regulatory regime,” he added.

SHARE THIS POST

Share on facebook
Facebook
Share on email
Email
Share on twitter
Twitter
Share on whatsapp
WhatsApp

SUBSCRIBE NOW