For any country, it would be a financial emergency. For Switzerland, the stakes verged on existential

 Its economic model and national identity, cultivated over centuries, were built on safeguarding the world’s wealth. It wasn’t just about a bank. Switzerland itself needed rescuing.

It was Thursday, barely 24 hours into an escalating banking crisis and Credit Suisse was hemorrhaging deposits. The 167-year-old national institution appeared days away from bankruptcy. 

To keep it alive until the weekend, the central bank was about to quadruple a credit line of more than $50 billion. U.S. and U.K. regulators called their Swiss counterparts to make sure they didn’t let Credit Suisse bring down global markets.

WSJ 22 March 2023

https://www.wsj.com/articles/ubs-credit-suisse-rescue-switzerland-banks-36abe8c4

How Swiss banking went from a Rolls-Royce to a toxic mess

Telegraph 19 March 2023

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2023/03/19/how-swiss-banking-went-rolls-royce-toxic-mess/

Swiss regulators have committed shameless expropriation. So much for the safety of Zurich

Ambrose Evans-Pritchard Telegraph 21 March  2023

https://englundmacro.blogspot.com/2023/03/swiss-regulators-have-committed.html

“The AT1 instruments issued by Credit Suisse provide contractually that they are written off in full in the event of a trigger event (viability event), in particular when extraordinary government support is granted,” the regulator said in a statement. 

As the bank was granted assistance loans backed by a federal default guarantee on March 19, the regulator instructed the bank to write down the 16 biillion francs ($17.2 billion) worth of those bonds to zero, it said.“

MarketWatch 23 March 2023

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/swiss-regulator-says-full-writedown-of-credit-suisse-at1-bonds-due-to-viability-event-1820c37b