Credit Suisse’s ability to shoot itself in the foot is legendary but you would have thought its shareholders would have learned not to make matters worse. But no, the chairman of Saudi National Bank, which bought a 9.9% stake in the Swiss bank only last year, picked a terrible moment to say his firm would “absolutely not” be investing more.
To be fair, Ammar al-Khudairy gave an explanation (going over 10% would mean extra regulatory rules) and also said he didn’t think Credit Suisse needed extra capital because its financial ratios are “fine”. Too late: the market heard the “absolutely not” comment and wondered where beleaguered Credit Suisse would turn if, in fact, more capital is required.
