The country’s central bank opens a substantial line of liquidity to support the business.
The largest Swiss bank UBS has agreed to acquire Credit Suisse, confirmed the Swiss National Bank (SNB) calling the deal a “solution to guarantee financial stability and protect the Swiss economy in this exceptional situation”.
The central bank said in a statement that both entities have unrestricted access to existing facilities from the regulator and can obtain a loan with preferred creditor status in case of bankruptcy worth 100 billion francs.
In addition, the SNB may grant Credit Suisse a liquidity assistance loan of up to 100 billion francs backed by a federal default guarantee.
The regulator stressed that the aid will ensure that UBS and Credit Suisse have “the necessary liquidity” available, while noting that they continue to work closely with the Swiss federal government and the country’s Financial Market Supervisory Authority to ensure the stability of the financial system.
Credit Suisse suffered this week significant losses as a result of the banking crisis affecting the US and after its main shareholder, the Saudi National Bank, announced that it would not inject more money into the entity.
In this context, the Swiss central bank was forced to lend 50 billion francs (about $53.6 billion) to Credit Suisse. However, the financing granted by the regulator failed to stabilize the price of the shares of the financial institution.
