The Swiss National Bank will provide liquidity to troubled lender Credit Suisse if necessary, the central bank said late Wednesday, in a joint statement with the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority, or FINMA. The “problems of certain banks in the USA do not pose a direct risk of contagion for the Swiss financial markets,” SNB and FINMA said. “The strict capital and liquidity requirements applicable to Swiss financial institutions ensure their stability. Credit Suisse meets the capital and liquidity requirements imposed on systemically important banks. If necessary, the SNB will provide CS with liquidity,” they said. U.S. stocks remained sharply lower ahead of the closing bell, but had moved well off session lows after Bloomberg reported that Swiss authorities and Credit Suisse were discusing ways to stabilize the bank. The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA was down 320 points, or 0.9%, while the S&P 500 SPX was off 0.7% and the Nasdaq Composite COMP ticked up 0.1%.
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