Swiss banking giant Credit Suisse on 15 March saw its shares fall to a new record low, pressuring the broader market and the rest of the European banking sector days after two lenders collapsed in the US.
Credit Suisse shares fell as much as 23%, breaking below the 2 franc level and extending the declines that seen its shares drop 75% over the last 52 weeks.
On 14 March, Credit Suisse said in its annual report that it had material weaknesses in financial controls. Credit Suisse has lost money for five straight quarters, and its wealthy clients in the fourth quarter withdrew about $100bn from the bank.
READ Credit Suisse has axed 8% of staff since unveiling overhaul
The chairman of its top shareholder, Saudi National Bank, ruled out investing any more into the bank in a Bloomberg interview.
Responding to a question about further injections if Credit Suisse called for more liquidity, Saudi National Bank Chairman Ammar Al Khudairy said: “The answer is absolutely not, for many reasons outside the simplest reason, which is regulatory and statutory.”
The Euro Stoxx banking index dropped 7%, with shares of major French banks Societe Generale and BNP Paribas each falling 10%.
The struggles for Europe’s banks dragged on broader market sentiment, with S&P 500 futures ES00 recently down about 2%.
This article was published by MarketWatch, part of Dow Jones
