Shares of Switzerland's Largest Bank Experience Decline

Shares of Switzerland's second-largest bank, Credit Suisse, fell by 30 percent during trading on March 15 on the Swiss stock exchange, reaching a historic low, as reported by Reuters.

The record drop in Credit Suisse’s shares occurred after its major shareholder, the National Bank of Saudi Arabia, declined to provide additional investment support to avoid breaching regulatory requirements. Credit Suisse has reached out to Swiss banking regulators for assistance and requested them to issue a "supportive statement regarding the bank's financial health."

According to the newspaper, the European Central Bank has asked EU lending institutions to report their risks concerning Credit Suisse. Shares of Credit Suisse began to decline on March 14 after the bank published its 2022 reports, Reuters states. The document notably revealed that Credit Suisse had identified "significant weaknesses" in the controls over financial reporting and was unable to stop customer outflows.

Thus, the reports indicated that in the last three months of 2022, customers withdrew over 110 billion Swiss francs (approximately 120 billion dollars) from Credit Suisse.