Credit Suisse headed into a make-or-break weekend after some rivals grew cautious in their dealings with the struggling Swiss lender, and its regulators urged it to merge with UBS AG. At least four major banks, including Societe Generale (OTC:SCGLY) and Deutsche Bank (ETR:DBKGn), are restricting new trades involving Credit Suisse or its securities, five sources told Reuters.
DEVELOPMENTS
*Credit Suisse shares jumped 9% in after-market trading after the Financial Times reported UBS was in discussions to take over all or parts of its Swiss rival as the boards of the two banks were set to meet separately over the weekend.
- SVB Financial Group filed for a court-supervised reorganization under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection to seek buyers for its assets, days after regulators took over its former unit Silicon Valley Bank.
- Credit Suisse saw more than $450 million in net outflows from its U.S. and European managed funds from Monday to Wednesday, Morningstar Direct said.
- Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) downgraded First Republic Bank (NYSE:FRC)’s debt, citing deterioration in the bank’s financial profile and challenges faced by the lender due to increased reliance on funding amid deposit outflows.
- The U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corp (FDIC) is considering steps to facilitate takeovers of Signature Bank (NASDAQ:SBNY) and Silicon Valley Bank and widen the pool of bidders while ensuring larger banks are not discouraged from bidding, a source told Reuters.
- U.S. President Joe Biden said the banking crisis has calmed down after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature, seeking to reassure investors and depositors. He urged Congress to give regulators greater power over the banking sector.
- European Central Bank supervisors, in an unscheduled meeting, saw no contagion to euro zone banks from the market turmoil that has engulfed Credit Suisse and some U.S. lenders, a source said.
- The ECB’s Thursday rate hike signallled strong confidence in the solidity of European banks, said French ECB policymaker Francois Villeroy de Galhau.
- Financial authorities in Germany, Japan, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa said their economies and financial systems were stable.
MARKETS
- European and U.S. shares fell on Friday as investors
remained worried about a potentially broad banking crisis. The dollar slipped and Treasury yields fell.