Credit Suisse says Switzerland’s lifeline gives it time to renew -SRF

ZURICH, March 17 (Reuters) – Credit Suisse sees its access to 50 billion Swiss francs ($53.98 billion) in funding from the Swiss central bank as “prudential liquidity” to allow the troubled bank to continue its renovation, said the head of his Swiss company.

Following a crisis of confidence that saw Credit Suisse lose 25% of the value of its shares on Wednesday, the bank requested an emergency liquidity line from the Swiss National Bank, the first such measure by a bank since the crisis.

“We see this as precautionary liquidity so that we can complete the transformation of Credit Suisse and continue to work well in this turbulent situation,” André Helfenstein, managing director of Swiss bank Credit Suisse, told the channel. SRF television in an interview published last week. Thursday time.

“Of course, 50 billion francs is an important figure. However, 50 billion francs should be seen as a sign that we want to continue our transformation successfully and also send a clear signal to the market and to our customers.”

Helfenstein said Credit Suisse was working hard to curb client departures, although it could take time.

“We are constantly working on it every day,” he told SRF in the interview. “But it’s not something that happens overnight either.

“We have to try to get in touch with our customers and win them back little by little with open conversations,” he added.

(1 dollar = 0.9262 Swiss francs)

(Reporting by John Revill; Editing by Sam Holmes; Editing in Spanish by José Muñoz)