Credit Suisse says a key metric of its liquidity didn’t change in SVB’s fall

By Selena Li and Elisa Martinuzzi

March 16 (Reuters) – Credit Suisse said on Thursday its average liquidity coverage ratio, a measure of the bank’s liquidity risk profile, had not changed between March 8 and March 14, despite the banking crisis world.

In a staff statement containing talking points for clients dated March 16 and seen by Reuters, Credit Suisse said CEO Ulrich Koerner’s March 14 remarks on improving the liquidity coverage ratio The median LCR of the bank at around 150% referred to a March 8 reading of the measure.

The bank said in an earlier press release on March 16 that the 150% LCR value refers to March 14.

In a statement to Reuters, the bank said all data “presented in the materials for our customers, colleagues and other interested parties is correct”, adding that the average LCR was accurate on March 8 and accurate on March 14.

Following a crisis of confidence that wiped out 25% of the value of Credit Suisse shares on Wednesday, the bank has requested an emergency liquidity line from the Swiss National Bank, the first of its kind for a global bank. since the crisis.

In recent months, analysts and investors have pored over the precise details of the cash the bank has at any given time to assess its ability to meet regulatory requirements.

The bank said in the fourth quarter it fell below certain regulatory thresholds due to cash outflows that it has not been able to reverse since.

The fall of Silicon Valley Bank in the United States on March 10 sent bank stocks tumbling globally and prompted depositors to shift their cash to larger financial institutions perceived to be sounder.

The unprecedented rate of outflows from the SVB on March 9 (over $40 billion in one day) put the spotlight on banks’ liquidity metrics, which changed dramatically within hours.

Credit Suisse has been fighting for months to regain the trust of clients and investors, after a series of scandals and losses in recent years.

(Additional reporting by Noele Illien, Oliver Hirt and Stefania Spezzati; editing by Paritosh Bansal, Edward Tobin and Anna Driver; editing in Spanish by José Muñoz)