Shares in the embattled lender plunged over 10% on Friday
© AFP / Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP
Credit Suisse shares resumed their decline on Friday, erasing the previous session’s gains, as investor concerns continue rising despite the news of a $54 billion lifeline.
The price of stock in Switzerland’s second-largest bank had dropped by more than 10% as of 13:10 GMT, following two days of sharp swings, which saw its shares jump 20% on Thursday after a nearly 25% plunge on Wednesday.
The slide came after the bank’s biggest investor, Saudi National Bank (SNB), confirmed it would not be able to provide further financial assistance due to regulatory and statutory limits. The market turmoil engulfing the Swiss lender was triggered by last week’s collapse of US tech lenders.
On Thursday, Credit Suisse announced it would borrow up to 50 billion Swiss francs ($53.8 billion) from the country’s central bank, the Swiss National Bank, to reassure investors it had enough money to stay afloat. In addition to the loan, the troubled lender repurchased billions of dollars of its own debt to manage the liabilities and interest-payment expenses. The offer covers $2.5 billion of US dollar bonds and €500 million ($529 million) of euro bonds.
“Whether depositors are sufficiently reassured to stem outflows over the next few days is a key question, in our view,” head of investment strategy for RBC Wealth Management, Frederique Carrier, told Reuters.
“While markets are relieved that the Swiss central bank stepped in, sentiment is bound to remain very fragile, particularly as investors will likely worry about the eventual economic impact of aggressive monetary policy tightening by the European Central Bank (ECB),” she added.
Zurich-based Credit Suisse has been battling to recover from a string of scandals and losses that have the confidence of investors and clients. Customer outflows in the fourth quarter totaled over 110 billion Swiss francs.
Executives at major banks in Switzerland have warned that the country’s decision to support Ukraine-related sanctions against Russia is having a negative impact on their business, the Financial Times reported last week.
The unnamed banking officials told the outlet that wealthy Chinese clients are seriously worried about depositing their money in Swiss banks, after Bern ditched its policy of neutrality by freezing billions in Russian assets as part of sanctions.
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