Credit Suisse shares hit record low amid worries over US bank collapse

Experts have warned that further bank turmoil or even a global financial crisis would bring the ailing bank into even greater difficulties. © Keystone / Walter Bieri

Switzerland's financial watchdog has declined to comment on the collapse of share prices of Credit Suisse.

The financial market supervisory authority (FINMA) said it could not make a statement “on share prices of supervised institutions or on details of its supervisory activities at individual institutions”, a spokesman said.

Shares of Credit Suisse , Switzerland’s second largest bank, plunged by more than 15% in trading on Monday morning, hitting a new all-time low of CHF2.115 ($2.296).

They recovered later in the day and closed at CHF2.27 on the Swiss stock exchange.

Stock market experts have warned that further bank turmoil or even a global financial crisis would bring the ailing bank into even greater difficulties.

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Shares of other Swiss banks, notably UBS, also closed significantly down on Monday.

Monitoring the situation

FINMA said it was taking note of the media reports on Silicon Valley Bank in the United States and was monitoring the situation closely.

The FINMA spokesman told the Swiss AWP business news agency that the authorities were evaluating the direct and indirect exposure of the supervised banks and insurance companies.

“The aim is to identify any cluster risks and potential for contagion at an early stage. As usual in such cases,  the authorities are in contact with various institutions and foreign authorities,” he said.