Credit Suisse borrows more than $50 billion from Swiss National Bank after shares crash 30%
Hours after the Swiss central bank said it was ready to provide financial support to Credit Suisse, the beleaguered megabank took it up on the offer, hoping to reassure investors that it had the necessary cash to stay afloat.
Credit Suisse said it would borrow up to 50 billion Swiss Francs ($53.7 billion) from the Swiss National Bank. Investors sent shares in the country’s second biggest lender crashing by as much as 30% Wednesday.
“This additional liquidity would support Credit Suisse’s core businesses and clients as Credit Suisse takes the necessary steps to create a simpler and more focused bank built around client needs,” the bank said in a statement.
In addition to the loan from the central bank, Credit Suisse also said it repurchased billions of dollars of its own debt to manage its liabilities and interest payment expenses. The offer covers $2.5 billion of US dollar bonds and €500 million ($529 million) of euro bonds.
The venerable but troubled bank, founded in 1856, is one of the biggest financial institutions in the world and categorized as a “global systemically important bank,” along with just 30 others, including JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America and the Bank of China.
