By early afternoon, the Swiss bank had fallen 20.5 percent.
The arrows also pointed sharply downwards for several French banks. Both BNP Paribas and Société Générale fell by 11 per cent, while German Commerzbank weakened by 9.7 per cent.
In Paris, the CAC 40 index had fallen 3.2 percent at 1 p.m. The decline in Frankfurt was 2.8 per cent, while the main index in Oslo fell 3 per cent.
– The markets are wild, stated Carlo Franchini in the Italian financial company Banca Ifigest.
Major Saudi shareholder
In the wake of the banking turmoil in the US, the focus is now on the problems of European banks – primarily Credit Suisse, according to Franchini.
The Swiss bank’s largest shareholder, Saudi National Bank, told Bloomberg TV on Wednesday that it is not appropriate to give the Swiss bank more financial assistance.
Shares in Credit Suisse initially plunged 18 per cent, which led to trading in the shares being halted, according to Dagens Næringsliv. When trading resumed, the decline continued.
Big losses
Credit Suisse has had significant challenges in recent years, and the bank lost NOK 84 billion in the financial year 2022. Large sums of money were withdrawn from the bank’s depositors towards the end of the year.
Saudi National Bank is the largest commercial bank in the sovereign Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Chairman Ammar Al Khudairy said on Wednesday that he was satisfied with Credit Suisse’s change plans and that he did not think the Swiss bank needed more money.
He also referred to regulations which mean that the Saudi National Bank cannot own more than 10 per cent of Credit Suisse.
Both Switzerland’s central bank and the French finance ministry received questions about the situation from the news agency Reuters on Wednesday. None of them had any comment.
[ Foreldre vet veldig lite om hva som skjer i barnehagen ]
Bank collapses
The stock market falls of the European banks come in the wake of several bank collapses in the USA. Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) was closed by the authorities in California on Friday last week.
Over the weekend, the US authorities put in place a solution to ensure that no one loses their deposits in SVB and crypto-oriented Signature Bank, which was also closed. On Monday, President Joe Biden promised to do what is needed to ensure the stability of the American banking system.
An important reason for the banking unrest is the sharp increases in interest rates to fight inflation in the wake of the pandemic. As a result of the rise in interest rates, government bonds have fallen in value.
[ – Flyprisene er blitt så høye at det var på tide å gjøre noe ]