Credit Suisse, what happens to savers and accounts in the event of bankruptcy – Corriere.it

What happens to Credit Suisse savers in the event of bankruptcy? Even in Switzerland, like Italy, there is a rescue cordon for those who have money kept in a failing bank. It was activated by Esisuisse, an association founded in Basel in 2005 which includes all the credit institutions with branches in Switzerland. If the FINMA, i.e. the federal financial market supervisory authority in Switzerland, opens bankruptcy liquidation proceedings for a bank (but also for a securities firm), in order to immediately repay the privileged deposits, it first draws on the assets institution’s available liquids. Esisuisse intervenes only if the liquid assets available are not sufficient to directly repay the guaranteed deposits of customers: the association of banks will then collect resources among its members and forward them within 20 working days to the FINMA which proceeds to transfer them to the holders of accounts. If the bank has sufficient liquidity, customers are reimbursed up to a maximum of 100,000 Swiss francs. If that is not enough, Esisuisse covers the difference. The maximum that the association can allocate is 6 billion francs.

Is there a rush to withdraw deposits from the Swiss bank?

The fear now that there is a run on the branches to withdraw deposits from the Swiss bank in difficulty: the experts of Activetrades have in any case underlined that for Credit Suisse the run on the branches did not determine, unlike what happened for the institute Californian Svb. Credit Suisse itself has asked the Zurich Stock Exchange and the Swiss Central Bank to provide reassurances to customers, so much so that the group’s shares have somewhat reduced the collapse, although already closing by 24.24%.

In Italy

In Italy, the insurance system for savers’ funds is similar: the Interbank Fund covers up to 100,000 euros (102,000 Swiss francs). The threshold applies for each depositor, for each bank. If a depositor has several deposits made out to the same bank, the accounts are combined and the guarantee limit of 100,000 euros is applied to the total amount.

Classes, social security and abroad

Money over 100,000 euros is not covered by the deposit guarantee and is therefore assigned to the so-called bankruptcy third class, i.e. they are repaid at least in part at the end of the bank’s liquidation procedure. First, all account holders up to 100,000 francs and those with deposits in the pension sector (pillar 3a) are repaid, i.e. tied pension provision, paid-up and tied capital until retirement. Any natural or legal person (except institutions) who is the holder of the guarantee benefits of deposits booked in branches of banks and securities firms in Switzerland, irrespective of whether this person is domiciled in Switzerland or abroad. Protected deposits include money in private, savings, investment, wage, numbered, custody and joint accounts as well as current, association and rental deposit accounts. Medium-term bonds deposited in the bearer’s name with the issuing institution also fall under this category.