- Shares of Swiss bank Credit Suisse fell nearly 24 per cent on Wednesday, hitting an all-time low.
- Bank shares were down earlier this week following the failure of Silicon Valley Bank in the US
- Wednesday’s decline came after Credit Suisse’s largest investor, the Saudi National Bank, declined to provide additional financial support.
Credit Suisse lost almost a quarter of its value on Wednesday, falling to its lowest ever, amid fears of a global banking crisis following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) last week.
Shares of the beleaguered Swiss bank fell nearly 24 per cent on Wednesday after hitting a record low on Monday.
Trading in Credit Suisse shares was halted on Wednesday morning, UK time. The stock recovered slightly around noon, but was still down more than 20 percent.
The decline came after Credit Suisse’s biggest investor, the Saudi National Bank, said it had ruled out providing more financial support to the bank – Switzerland’s second largest.
“We can’t because we will go above 10 percent. It’s a regulatory issue,” SNB President Ammar Al Khudairi told Reuters on Wednesday.
The Saudi National Bank last year took a 10 percent stake in Credit Suisse as the Swiss bank sought to recover from a series of scandals that undermined investor and customer confidence.
Al Khudairi said on Wednesday that his bank was happy with Credit Suisse’s transformation plan and thought it would need additional funds. He said that his bank will exit when the fair value of the shares is achieved.
This comes as the fallout from the seizure of two financial institutions in the US continues.
SVB, a well-known financial institution for tech entrepreneurs, fell on Friday following a bank run. Two days later, regulators announced that New York-based Signature Bank had also failed and was being seized.
This week, Robert Kiyosaki, a financial guru and author of the bestselling book rich Dad Poor Dad, Predicted that Credit Suisse would be the next bank to collapse.
President Joe Biden and regulators have sought to reassure the public that the risks are contained and that deposits at other banks are safe.
The Federal Reserve, the US Treasury Department and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation said the federal government would protect all deposits at SVB and Signature Bank that exceed the FDIC’s $250,000 limit.
The Fed also launched an extensive emergency lending program aimed at increasing confidence in the country’s financial system.
And its chairman, Jerome Powell, announced on Monday a review of its supervision of the SVB to understand how it can better manage its regulation of the bank.
In his remarks at the White House on Monday, Biden said, “Thanks to my administration’s swift action over the past few days, Americans can have confidence that the banking system is safe. Your deposits will be there when you need them.”
Biden and lawmakers have also called for stronger financial rules, along with criticizing the rollback in 2018 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which tightened bank regulation in 2010.
Credit: www.newsweek.com /