The Swiss National Bank (SNB) and FINMA issued a joint statement on March 15 on the stability of the Swiss banking system and Credit Suisse. Problems with "certain banks in the United States" do not pose a risk to the Swiss financial system, they wrote.
The statement was reportedly produced at the request of Credit Suisse. Credit Suisse meets all capital and liquidity requirements, the regulator said, but "if necessary, the SNB will provide liquidity to CS [Credit Suisse]." However, Credit Suisse still "meets the requirements imposed on systemically important banks." capital and liquidity requirements". The statement acknowledged that Credit Suisse had been "influenced by the market reaction in recent days".
On March 14, Credit Suisse Group CEO Ulrich Körner confirmed that the bank is taking a conservative approach to interest rate risk. On the same day, the bank acknowledged "significant deficiencies in our internal controls over financial reporting" as its 2022 results were the worst since the 2008 global financial crisis. SBN's statement came as Credit Suisse's shares tumbled at the open on March 15, dropping as much as 30%, and trading was temporarily halted in a major sell-off. Trading at several other European banks halted at the same time.
Ammar Al Khudairy, chairman of the National Bank of Saudi Arabia, said on March 15 that the Saudi central bank Credit Suisse’s largest shareholder with a 9.8% stake would “absolutely not” back Credit Suisse.
ECB officials have contacted the banks they supervise to ask about their exposure to Credit Suisse, and the French finance minister is due to call his Swiss colleagues to discuss developments at Credit Suisse. A U.S. Treasury Department official told the news agency it was monitoring the bank's situation.
