Following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, the Credit Suisse crisis plagued the banking industry.
On 15th March 2023, the shares of Credit Suisse slumped when the chairman of the bank’s largest shareholder, Saudi National Bank ruled out investing further more into Credit Suisse. As you can see below, the share price dipped from 2.28 CHF to 1.56 CHF.
Immediately, Swiss National Bank threw in a $54 billion loan to Credit Suisse after the slump sparked fears of a global banking crisis. The share price recovered when the lifeline was thrown in.
According to what I have read from Reuters and Forbes, the sell off of Credit Suisse shares were nothing new. It began in 2021 after the collapse of investment fund Archegos and Greensill Capital.
In 2022, the chairman of Credit Suisse, Antonio Horta-Osorio resigned over COVID-19 breaches. Ulrich Koerner, took over as the new CEO.
At this point of writing, the Swiss cabinet has gathered to discuss over the possibility of takeover of Credit Suisse by its rival bank UBS. We will probably know the decision by Monday.
Impact of Credit Suisse Crisis on Singapore Local Banks
If you are worried about the collapse of Credit Suisse on Singapore Local Banks (DBS, UOB and OCBC), the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said that the Singapore Bank’s exposure to Credit Suisse is insignificant.
To be rest assured, let us look at the three local bank’s share price.
DBS Group Holdings Ltd (SGX:D05)
United Overseas Bank Ltd (SGX:U11)
OCBC (SGX:O39)
No crisis for Singapore bank yet!