The chairman of Credit Suisse's largest shareholder has quit after his comments helped trigger the slump in its shares that led to it requiring to be rescued.
Ammar Al Khudairy said he had resigned from Saudi National Bank for personal reasons, days after saying he would "absolutely not" inject more cash into the struggling Swiss bank.
Credit Suisse's stock plunged to its lowest level on record following his comments during an interview.
That helped drag all European banks lower as investors shied away from risk following the collapse of three lenders in the US.
It also hammered the value of Saudi National Bank's 9.9% stake in Credit Suisse, which it acquired for £1.3billion in November last year.
UBS later agreed to buy Credit Suisse for £2.7billion in an historic, government-brokered deal aimed at containing the crisis of confidence that had started to spread across markets worldwide.
Bank shares drop
The Telegraph says banks across the FTSE 350 have fallen by nearly 15% since the crisis in markets began with the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank.
The chief executive of Australia and New Zealand Banking Group said on Monday that the banking turmoil has the "potential" to lead to another global financial crisis.
Saudi National Bank's £1.3billion investment in Credit Suisse was made at the behest of the kingdom's de-facto ruler, Mohammed bin Salman.
Mr Al Khudairy will be replaced as chairman by Saudi National Bank chief executive Saeed Mohammed Al Ghamdi.
He became chairman of Saudi National Bank in 2021 when it was created via a merger of National Commercial Bank and Samba Financial Group.
Mohammed Ali Yasin, capital markets specialist and investment adviser, said Mr Al Khudairy "was a victim of giving his honest opinion at such a tense time for Credit Suisse".
FTSE 100
The UK's top share index, the FTSE 100, was up 49 points at 7,520 shortly after opening this morning, following yesterday's 66-point gain.
Brent crude futures were down 0.22% at $77.95 a barrel.
Companies reporting today
- Full-year results: AG Barr, Wood
- Half-year results: Bellway
- Trading update: Ocado, United Utilities