Credit Suisse: Swiss Government Holds Special Meeting

The Swiss federal government will hold a special meeting on Thursday devoted to Credit Suisse, the day after a historic fall in its title on the stock market, says the national news agency Keystone-ATS, which quotes well-informed sources

Credit Suisse: Swiss Government Holds Special Meeting

The Swiss federal government will hold a special meeting on Thursday devoted to Credit Suisse, the day after a historic fall in its title on the stock market, says the national news agency Keystone-ATS, which quotes well-informed sources. It was not immediately clear whether decisions would be made on this occasion, the agency said, adding that the government nevertheless considers it urgent to meet in view of the tremors and doubts affecting the country's second largest bank.

Investors sent Credit Suisse shares soaring higher on Thursday after the Swiss Central Bank launched a lifeline of more than 50 billion francs to the banking giant to reassure global markets. The title Credit Suisse jumped 22% at the end of the morning in a strong volume of exchanges. The day before, the action had suffered the worst session in its history after a movement of panic following statements from its largest shareholder, the Saudi National Bank. The action had hit a historic low of 1.55 Swiss francs.

To stop the panic movement, Credit Suisse - which is part of the very small club of banks which are considered to play such an important role that they cannot be allowed to go bankrupt - announced in the middle of the night in Europe that it was going to appeal to the Swiss Central Bank to borrow up to 50 billion Swiss francs (50.7 billion euros) to "preemptively bolster" its liquidity. It will also carry out a series of debt buyback operations for around 3 billion Swiss francs.