- The shares of the major Swiss bank Credit Suisse (CS) continued to fall.
- At times, the title fell by more than 15 percent and hit a new record low of CHF 2,115.
- The share was then able to recover to CHF 2,257 at the close of the market, with a minus of 9.6 percent.
- In particular, the current developments at banks in the USA are having a negative impact on the CS course.
After the shocks in the US banking sector, Swiss bank stocks also suffered losses. The shares of the ailing Credit Suisse were in free fall on Monday and fell below the CHF 2,115 mark for the first time.
The papers of the competitor UBS also lost 7.7 percent. Shares in wealth manager Julius Baer lost 5.5 percent. Already on Friday, the papers of the big banks CS and UBS each lost a good 4.5 percent.
For CS, which is in the midst of restructuring, the current mood on the stock market is pure poison. After the various major scandals and the associated severe loss of confidence among investors and customers and the recent high outflow of funds, events in the US financial sector are fueling additional uncertainty.
The Swiss Market Index (SMI) also fell briefly to 10,538 points, but finally closed 1.24 percent lower at 10,632.05 points.
Hardly any new financial crisis
Experts currently consider it unlikely that another financial crisis like the one in 2008 is looming. The problems of the SVB bring back memories of the collapse of the investment bank Lehman Brothers. SVB ranks 16th among all US banks by total assets, but is not as big as Lehman was in 2008. And Lehman was much more integrated into the US financial system than SVB, which specializes in venture capital and start-ups.
Customers who had invested their money with the US money houses Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and Signature Bank, which were closed over the weekend, are protected and have access to their savings. That said on Monday US President Joe Biden; the US banking system is safe.
The investors behind the banks, on the other hand, would have to bear their losses themselves. In addition, the managers of the financial institutions placed under state control would be fired, announced Biden. Finance Minister Janet Yellen ruled out a government bailout for the SVB on Sunday.
Some economists now even expect that the recent events will prompt the US central bank system, the Fed, to interrupt its monetary tightening cycle next week.
Bank failures in the US
Last Thursday saw the biggest sell-off in the US banking sector in almost three years. In addition to the capital problems at Silicon Valley Bank, the trigger was also the collapse of the crypto bank Silvergate Capital. The events made investors aware of the dangers – such as loan defaults – that can accompany the recent rise in interest rates.
The problems of the SVB are very specific, according to analysts from the Baader Europe advisory group in a comment. They are believed to be due to overexposure to a troubled sector and a lack of adequate interest rate hedging. It is not expected that European banks would face similar difficulties and in particular would be forced to sell government bonds at losses to cover deposit withdrawals.