Dhe troubled Swiss bank Credit Suisse wants to borrow up to 50 billion Swiss francs (50.7 billion euros) from the country’s central bank. The company announced this on Thursday morning. The bank, whose stock market value had crashed the day before, should be strengthened by this step, it said.
Credit Suisse further explained that the billions borrowed from the Swiss National Bank (SNB) were intended to support the core business and the transformation into a bank that is more customer-oriented. The borrowing is fully secured by first class assets. In addition, the bank is making offers for up to three billion Swiss francs of senior debt for cash.
The move came after Swiss regulators pledged liquidity assistance to Credit Suisse. Credit Suisse is the first global, systemically important bank since the financial crisis to receive a tailor-made lifeline.
The bank had recently come under massive pressure, and its shares fell by more than 30 percent on Wednesday. At the close of the stock exchange they were still at minus 24.24 percent. The reason for the panic was statements by the largest shareholder from Saudi Arabia that it would no longer provide the ailing Swiss institute with any more money.
Credit Suisse is among the 30 banks worldwide classified as “too big to fail” because their failure would have a devastating impact on the global economy.