UBS AG was examining on Saturday a takeover of
embattled lender Credit Suisse that could see the Swiss government offer a
guarantee against the risks involved.
The 167-year-old
Credit Suisse is the biggest name ensnared in the market turmoil unleashed by
the collapse of US lenders Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank over the past
week, and its slide has fanned fears of broader banking problems.
To get the crisis under control, UBS was coming under
pressure from the Swiss authorities to carry out a takeover, Reuters' sources
said. Under the plan, Credit Suisse's Swiss business could be spun off, they
added.
Credit Suisse Chief Financial Officer Dixit Joshi and his
teams were meeting over the weekend to assess their options for the
bank, people with knowledge of the matter said.
The bank's share price swung wildly this week, during which
it was forced to tap US$54 billion in central bank funding, and Credit Suisse
had lost a quarter of its market value by Friday night.
The
mood in Switzerland, long considered an icon for banking stability, was pensive
as executives wrestled with the future of the country's biggest lenders.
"Banks in permanent stress" read the front page
headline of the Neue Zuercher Zeitung newspaper on Saturday morning.
Credit
Suisse ranks among the world's largest wealth managers and is considered one of
30 global systemically important banks whose failure would cause ripples
throughout the entire financial system.
In a sign of its vulnerability, at least four of Credit
Suisse's major rivals, including Societe Generale SA and Deutsche Bank AG,
have put restrictions on their trades involving the Swiss bank or its
securities.
Goldman
Sachs cut its recommendation on exposure to European bank debt, saying a lack
of clarity on Credit Suisse's future would put pressure on the broader sector
in the region.
Although the banking system was more robust than it was at
the time of the financial crisis in 2008, a more forceful policy response is
likely needed to bring some stability, Goldman analyst Lotfi Karoui wrote in a
note to clients.
Already this week, big US banks provided a US$30
billion lifeline for smaller lender First Republic while US banks
altogether have sought a record US$153 billion in emergency liquidity from
the Federal Reserve in recent days.
This reflected funding and liquidity strains on banks,
driven by weakening depositor confidence, said ratings agency Moody's, which
this week downgraded its outlook on the US banking system to negative.
In Washington, focus turned to greater oversight to ensure
that banks - and their executives - are held accountable.
US President Joe Biden called on Congress to give regulators
greater power over the sector, including imposing higher fines, clawing back
funds and barring officials from failed banks.
Some
Democratic lawmakers asked regulators and the Justice Department to probe the
role of Goldman Sachs in SVB's collapse, said the office of Representative
Adam Schiff.
Banking
stocks globally have been battered since Silicon Valley Bank collapsed,
raising questions about other weaknesses in the financial system.
US regional bank shares fell sharply on Friday and the
S&P Banks index posted its worst two-week calendar loss since the pandemic
shook markets in March 2020, slumping 21.5%.
First
Republic Bank ended Friday down 32.8%, bringing its loss over the last 10
sessions to more than 80%.
While support from some of the biggest names in US banking
prevented First Republic's collapse this week, investors were startled by
disclosures on its cash position and how much emergency liquidity it needed.
The failure
of SVB, meanwhile, brought into focus how a relentless campaign of interest
rate hikes by the US Federal Reserve and other central banks, including the
European Central Bank this week, was putting pressure on the banking sector.
Many analysts and regulators have said SVB's downfall was
due to its specialized, tech-focused business model, while the wider banking
system was much more robust thanks to reforms adopted in the years after the
global financial crisis.
But a senior official at China's central bank said on
Saturday that high interest rates in the major developed economies could
continue to cause problems for the financial system.