Credit Suisse deal averted crisis, Swiss central bank says

By JAMEY KEATEN and DAVID McHUGH
Associated Press

GENEVA (AP) — The Swiss central bank has hiked its key interest rate and declared that a government-orchestrated takeover of troubled Credit Suisse by rival bank UBS ended the financial turmoil. In a statement, the Swiss National Bank said Thursday that it’s providing large amounts of support in Swiss francs and foreign currencies and that the Sunday announcement by the federal government, financial regulators and the central bank “put a halt to the crisis.” The hastily arranged, $3.25 billion deal aimed to stem the turmoil in the global financial system after the collapse of two U.S. banks and jitters about long-running troubles at Credit Suisse led shares of Switzerland’s second-largest bank to tank and customers to pull deposits.