(Zurich) Credit Suisse announced on Thursday that it would borrow up to 50 billion Swiss francs (C$74 billion) from the Swiss National Bank on a short-term basis to “strengthen” the group, whose title has collapsed in stock exchange.
The bank has, at the same time, announced a series of debt buyback operations for around 3 billion Swiss francs (4 billion CAN).
“These steps are a decisive move to strengthen Credit Suisse as we continue our strategic transformation to deliver value to our clients and other stakeholders,” said the bank’s chief executive, Ulrich Koerner, as quoted in a statement.
On Wednesday, Credit Suisse shares fell 24.24% at the close. The group, one of 30 banks in the world considered too big to fail, was worth just under 6.7 billion Swiss francs (10 billion CAN) on the stock market.
This dizzying fall began after statements by the president of the Saudi National Bank, the largest shareholder of Credit Suisse, excluding injecting more money into the group, mainly for regulatory reasons.
Founded in 1856, Credit Suisse is a pillar of the Swiss financial center, but it has been in turmoil since the bankruptcy of the British financial company Greensill, which marked the start of a series of scandals that weakened the bank.
Since March 2021, the stock has lost more than 83% of its value. Investors are also worried about the risk of contagion after the bankruptcy of the American bank SVB.
