ZURICH (Archyde.com) – Credit Suisse shares fell below two Swiss francs for the first time in its history on Wednesday after the Swiss bank’s largest shareholder said it could not provide further financial assistance.
“We can’t because we would go over 10% (in capital). It’s a regulatory issue,” Saudi National Bank (SNB) chairman Ammar Al Khudairy said on Wednesday.
The Saudi bank acquired a nearly 10% stake in the capital of Credit Suisse last year after participating in its fundraising and committing to inject up to 1.5 billion Swiss francs (1.53 billion euros).
Credit Suisse released its 2022 report on Tuesday in which it said it had identified “significant weaknesses” in internal controls over financial reporting.
Switzerland’s second-largest bank is trying to recover from a series of scandals that have significantly damaged investor and customer confidence. In the fourth quarter, customer outflows reached more than 110 billion Swiss francs.
On the Zurich Stock Exchange, the stock fell 18.3% to 1.83 francs around 10:30 GMT.
The cost of insurance against the risk of the bank defaulting on its bond debt increases. The five-year credit default swap (CDS) rose to 553 basis points from 549 at the close, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence.
(Noele Illien, French version Laetitia Volga, edited by Blandine Hénault)