The Swiss claim the U.S. banking crisis ultimately toppled Credit Suisse. But are they right?

Following Credit Suisse's "emergency rescue" by rival UBS, Swiss authorities placed a dense accent connected the relation of U.S. determination banking collapses successful pushing the stricken Swiss lender to the brink.

Credit Suisse's astir caller stock terms plunge began with the collapse of U.S.-based Silicon Valley Bank, but was compounded erstwhile the 167-year-old Swiss instauration announced that it had found "material weaknesses" successful its fiscal reporting procedures.

Confirmation from apical capitalist the Saudi National Bank that it could not supply immoderate much backing to Credit Suisse past provided the last blow, prompting the announcement of a indebtedness of up to 50 cardinal Swiss francs ($54.2 billion) from the Swiss National Bank. By that point, Credit Suisse shares were down by astir 98% from their all-time precocious successful April 2007.

The indebtedness involution yet failed to reconstruct capitalist assurance and Swiss authorities brokered the bank's emergency merchantability to UBS for 3 cardinal Swiss francs implicit the weekend.

"The latest developments that emanated from the banks successful the U.S. deed america astatine the astir unfavorable moment. One time, similar past year, we were capable to flooded the heavy marketplace uncertainty, but not this 2nd time," Credit Suisse Chairman Axel Lehmann told a property league connected Sunday night.

"The accelerating nonaccomplishment of assurance and the escalation implicit the past fewer days person made it wide that Credit Suisse tin nary longer beryllium successful its existent form. We are blessed to person recovered a solution, which I'm convinced volition bring lasting stableness and information for clients, staff, fiscal markets and to Switzerland."

SNB Chairman Thomas Jordan besides lamented the "U.S. banking crisis" for accelerating a "loss of assurance successful Switzerland" which had repercussions for Credit Suisse's liquidity.

However, the downward spiral of Credit Suisse's stock terms and mounting plus outflows were underway agelong earlier the illness of Silicon Valley Bank earlier this month. Swiss regulator FINMA has travel nether occurrence for allowing the concern to deteriorate arsenic the slope spent years mired successful losses and scandal.

Mark Yallop, president of the U.K.'s Financial Markets Standards Board and erstwhile U.K. CEO astatine UBS, told CNBC connected Tuesday that helium agreed with the wide appraisal that Credit Suisse's downfall was "idiosyncratic."

"It's unfortunate that the problems with immoderate of the smaller U.S. banks successful the past 2 oregon 3 weeks happened astatine the aforesaid clip arsenic this contented with Credit Suisse but the 2 are wholly antithetic and precise mostly unrelated," helium said.

"The issues astatine Credit Suisse are to bash with a agelong past of revolving doors astatine the apical of the steadfast successful absorption terms, a changing plan, and connected apical of a bid of operational hazard and power and compliance problems."

The last straw that sent the stock terms to an all-time debased up of a 50 cardinal indebtedness from the SNB past Thursday, which yet failed to reconstruct marketplace assurance successful the bank, was the announcement from apical capitalist the Saudi National Bank that it could not supply immoderate much backing to Credit Suisse.

"One ne'er knows with a slope illness erstwhile the infinitesimal of situation volition come, but astatine that point, that was the infinitesimal erstwhile investors yet threw successful the towel and said capable is enough, and the actions that we saw implicit the play became beauteous overmuch inevitable," Yallop added.

What's more, swift enactment from Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department has mostly been credited with successfully stemming immoderate imaginable contagion to the U.S. fiscal system, which begs the question of however overmuch of the blasted for Credit Suisse's demise tin truly beryllium apportioned to the SVB collapse.

By contrast, the Swiss banking and regulatory strategy has travel nether fire.

Steven Glass, managing manager and expert astatine Pella Funds Management, told CNBC past week that the plunge successful Credit Suisse's stock terms had been a agelong clip coming, and that the nonaccomplishment of assurance of clients was really crystalized by the bank's vulnerability to the Greensill Capital illness successful 2021.

"The occupation with Greensill, it was really a immense issue, due to the fact that that money was marketed to a full batch of [Credit Suisse's] high-net-worth idiosyncratic clients arsenic a precise harmless fund, arsenic a mode to get output successful a low-yield world, and erstwhile that blew up, a full batch of their franchise mislaid wealth and they fundamentally mislaid spot successful Credit Suisse," Glass told CNBC's "Capital Connection."

In the aftermath of 9/11, caller regulations forced Swiss banks to wantonness the lawsuit secrecy that for centuries formed their modus operandi, and banks similar Credit Suisse took connected greater hazard successful a bid to clasp their profitability and forestall high-net-worth clients from taking their wealth elsewhere, Glass argued.

He suggested that successful this context, Credit Suisse losing the spot of its remaining high-net-worth individuals done Greensill, and a litany of different issues down the years, meant the slope "shot itself successful the foot."

"Yes, this has travel astatine the aforesaid clip arsenic SVB and yes arsenic Signature Bank and we tin spot wherefore 1 mightiness accidental it's a broader banking crisis, but successful existent fact, what we judge is that a batch of those banks really had a occupation with their concern model, much than determination being an overt banking crisis," Glass concluded.

This was echoed by Octavio Marenzi, CEO of Opimas, who told CNBC's Capital Connection connected Tuesday that the Credit Suisse debacle meant Switzerland's "carefully crafted, honed reputation" for fiscal stableness "lies successful tatters."