Earlier in the month, the Swiss National Bank announced the acquisition of Credit Suisse by UBS, adding that it could grant UBS a liquidity assistance loan with privileged creditor status in bankruptcy for a total of up to 100 billion Swiss francs ($108 billion) after the takeover.
"The Federal Council adopted the special dispatch on the two urgent guarantee credits for the Swiss National Bank (SNB) and UBS during its meeting on 29 March 2023. These guarantees are for a total of CHF 109 billion and have no immediate financial implications for the Confederation," the government said in a statement.
The government stated that it provides a default guarantee and a loss protection guarantee to prevent the imminent failure of Credit Suisse (CS).
"Default guarantee in the amount of CHF 100 billion in favour of the SNB for additional liquidity assistance loans from the SNB to CS. The additional liquidity assistance guaranteed by the Confederation will take effect only in case of need and will ensure business continuity at CS, thereby enabling an orderly takeover by UBS... Loss protection guarantee in the amount of CHF 9 billion for UBS. To enable UBS to take over Credit Suisse, the federal government provided a loss guarantee of a maximum of CHF 9 billion for a specific portfolio of difficult-to-assess CS assets," the statement read.
The Swiss parliament is expected to examine these financial assistance packages during the extraordinary session in April.