Another big bank needs help. But the starting position is different from that at UBS, according to the middle member of the Council of States Pirmin Bischof.
First of all, people in the Federal Palace are happy that the National Bank is making money available to Credit Suisse. Middle Councilor Pirmin Bischof says: “In this way they have succeeded in calming the panic situation and stabilizing the price of the CS share – I’ll put it that way.”
What would happen if CS could not fall back on the money from the National Bank, says SVP National Councilor Thomas Matter. He’s a banker himself. “In theory, CS would have to terminate all mortgage loans so that it could cover customer deposits. That would probably trigger a financial crisis, including a real estate crisis. But I am convinced that we will not get that far.”
Matter continues: “Every bank run – and I think CS experienced a digital bank run on Wednesday – is extremely dangerous for a financial system.”
Another rescue of a big bank?
Is Switzerland currently experiencing that the state has to rescue a major bank for the second time after UBS in 2008? Pirmin Bischof says: “If you need to save the word, I would say: ‘Unfortunately that’s true’. But the situation is completely different. At UBS, everyone knew that the state was investing in a company that was heavily indebted and was making losses. CS is – at least according to the information we have – not overindebted.”
At the moment, the competence lies with the SNB. This means that politicians cannot and should not intervene.
The CS is actually healthy, which is why politicians do not have to intervene directly, says the Green Franziska Ryser: “At the moment, the competence is with the SNB. This means that politicians cannot and should not intervene. In a next step, it is important to know what collateral CS has granted the SNB for this loan.”
Profits for the Saudis?
The keyword is: transparency about the rescue operation. This is also what SP faction leader Roger Nordmann calls for. And he goes one step further: “It is crucial for us that the help comes to the bank in the form of equity from now on. So that the general public – the Swiss National Bank, which is national wealth – benefits from the future share price.”
The public takes the risk and the profits are then borne by the private shareholders, the Saudis.
Otherwise it would lead to “the National Bank taking a 50 billion risk with a large credit line. And that means that the CS share price rises again and the profits are fully for the private sector. »
The national bank is to become a shareholder of CS, otherwise an undesirable pattern threatens once again: “The public takes the risk and the profits are then borne by the private shareholders, the Saudis.” The discussion about the political consequences has thus been launched.