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Credit Suisse rescue billions fast-tracked to Swiss parliament

Credit Suisse
The lights were only kept on at Credit Suisse due to emergency government intervention. © Keystone / Michael Buholzer

Emergency measures that underpinned the takeover of Credit Suisse by UBS will be rushed through for Swiss parliamentary approval.

On Thursday, the government said it was shortening a consultation period to meet a deadline for approving a CHF200 billion ($221 billion) credit line from the Swiss central bank.

+ Credit Suisse bondholders sue Swiss regulator

Parliament is required to approve emergency laws issued by the government within six months to prevent them from expiring.

The billions in loans from the Swiss National Bank (SNB) were hastily arranged in March to stop Credit Suisse collapsing under the weight of a bank run.

The concept of so-called “Public Liquidity Backstop” (PLB) loans from the SNB was first introduced by the government in 2022. The loans are designed to prop up ‘too big to fail’ banks in a crisis.

The near collapse of Credit Suisse in March forced the government to whistle up the loans as an emergency measure before the PLB could be voted into force by parliament.

Should parliament agree to the measure, the Credit Suisse loans will stand and future PLB provisions would no longer require emergency government intervention.

Parliament will also debate a range of other measures put forward by the government to better ensure the stability of the financial system.


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