Credit Suisse has announced that it will take a CHF50bn ($53.7bn) loan from the Swiss central bank, in an action it says will “pre-emptively strengthen its liquidity” as it moves to stem a crisis of confidence a day after its share price plummeted.
This additional liquidity would support the bank in taking the “necessary steps to create a simpler and more focused bank built around client needs”, said a statement.
The announcement came a few hours after the central bank and the Swiss financial markets regulator issued a joint statement pledging emergency funding if needed. They insisted there was no “direct risk” of contagion from turmoil in the US banking system after the sudden collapse last week of the US lender Silicon Valley Bank.
“Credit Suisse meets the capital and liquidity requirements imposed on systemically important banks,” the Swiss National Bank said.
Credit Suisse saw its shares fall by as much as 30% on Wednesday, prompted by comments from Credit Suisse’s largest shareholder, Saudi National Bank (SNB), which said it was unable to stump up more cash because of regulatory restrictions limiting its holding to below 10%.
The suggestion of a limit to support for Credit Suisse, which reported a loss of CHF7.3bn (£6.6bn) for 2022, sent its share price tumbling.
The bank, Europe’s 17th largest lender, has been struggling to keep customers after a string of scandals in recent years. Credit Suisse strengthened its balance sheet with a CHF4bn (£3.6bn) fundraising in November designed to finance a restructuring plan.
In a statement on Wednesday, the chairman, Axel Lehmann, tried to reassure customers and investors, saying: “We have strong capital ratios, a strong balance sheet. We already took the medicine.”
Agence France-Presse and Reuters contributed to this report
Discussion about this post