Credit Suisse’s largest shareholder, Saudi National Bank, will “absolutely not” support the bank by increasing its capital, its chairman Ammar al-Khudairy explained in an interview with Bloomberg TV.
Credit Suisse’s reputation has been tarnished by a series of scandals in recent years. The Saudi National Bank had come to its rescue by participating in a capital increase of 4 billion Swiss francs in November as part of a major restructuring.
Asked by Bloomberg TV whether he was ready to support Credit Suisse in the event of a new fundraising, Mr. al-Khudairy replied: “absolutely not, for several reasons in addition to the simplest, which are regulatory and statutory”. .
“We currently own 9.8% of the bank. If we exceed 10%, a series of new rules come into effect” and “we are not inclined to enter a new regulatory regime”, explained Mr. al-Khudairy.
The statements caused Credit Suisse to fall by more than 15% on the stock market. It dragged in its wake the banking sector, already heckled in recent days after the bankruptcy of the American bank Silicon Valley Bank (SVB).