In the usa, the next money house needs help; in europe, credit suisse remains under pressure despite support measures.

Further bank quake – Credit Suisse shares collapse again. Governments and central banks are trying to calm the situation down.

Banking turmoil continues to keep the financial world on tenterhooks: despite a billion-dollar support package, ailing major Swiss bank Credit Suisse is already under pressure again on the stock market.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD), however, sees no danger of a new major crisis in Germany and Europe: "I don't see that danger," he said. He added that the monetary system is no longer as fragile as it was before the financial crisis. In the USA, too, the situation remains tense after a concerted effort by major financial institutions to help a teetering regional bank. ECB banking supervisors planned to address the problems in a special meeting Friday.

Scholz does not expect any consequences for German savers after the collapse of start-up financier Silicon Valley Bank, which started the banking quake last week, and the turbulence surrounding Credit Suisse. The deposits are safe, he told the "Handelsblatt": "We live in a completely different time," he told the paper, referring to comparisons with the 2008 financial crisis.

Joe Biden: "No one is above the law"

U.S. President Joe Biden calls for tougher action against executives of struggling financial firms. "No one is above the law – increasing liability is an important deterrent to avoid poor management in the future," Biden said.

U.S. president appealed to Congress to approve tougher laws. "When banks fail because of mismanagement, it should be easier for regulators to claw back executive salaries, impose civil penalties, and bar CEOs from future jobs in the banking industry."

A spokeswoman for the European Central Bank (ECB) said the supervisory board meets to exchange views and update members on current developments in the banking sector. There was already a special meeting at the beginning of the week. Banking supervisors usually meet regularly in such situations. The central bank had previously stressed that "the euro area banking sector is resilient: capital and liquidity positions are sound."

Another US bank flounders

A billion-dollar support package from the Swiss National Bank for Credit Suisse in Europe was followed on Thursday by a coordinated rescue effort for another stumbling financial institution in the U.S. Regional bank First Republic receives a $30 billion cash injection from the largest U.S. money houses, including JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Bank of America and Wells Fargo, amid liquidity concerns and sharp stock market declines. The move is "most welcome" and demonstrates the resilience of the banking system, a joint statement from the Treasury Department and Federal Reserve said.

On the stock market, however, nervousness remains high: Credit Suisse shares went down again on Friday and at times slipped back into double digits to 1.767 francs. The Swiss National Bank had provided the ailing financial group with an aid package in the form of loans of up to 50 billion Swiss francs (just under 51 billion euros). But the move provided only temporary reassurance for Credit Suisse shareholders, even as the share price remained some way off Wednesday's record low of 1.55 francs. Meanwhile, First Republic Bank was down 20 percent in premarket U.S. trading.

Not yet prepared for the worst

However, in the view of financial expert Gerhard Schick, Europe needs to catch up with the U.S. in terms of bank regulation in order to be prepared for the worst case scenario. In the case of the difficulties of the Californian Silicon Valley Bank, the US deposit guarantee scheme was able to intervene directly and create stability very quickly, said the chairman of the citizens' movement Finanzwende on ARD's "Morgenmagazin". "In Europe, so far, we do not have such an authority that combines resolution and deposit insurance." This is where the banking union got stuck halfway through, he said. "That would absolutely have to be addressed now," the former Green Party member of parliament said.

Despite uncertainties in the banking industry, the ECB raised interest rates further on Thursday. France's central bank chief Francois Villeroy de Galhau sees it as an important signal against strong inflation. "That's a confidence in our anti-inflation strategy, and that's a confidence in the soundness of our European and French banks," the ECB Governing Council member told radio station BFM Business on Friday. "French and European banks are very solid." The ECB had raised the key interest rate for the sixth time in a row, by another 0.5 points to 3.5 percent.

Record sum paid out

How tense the situation in the U.S. banking sector has been recently was shown on Thursday by data from the Federal Reserve Bank. In the seven days to 15. March, the Fed issued a record $152.85 billion to financial institutions through its emergency liquidity program known as the discount window. This surpassed the previous high of $111 billion from the 2008 financial crisis. By comparison, the previous week, banks had claimed only $4.58 billion from the discount window. An additional $11.9 billion flowed from the emergency Bank Term Funding Program established by the Fed on Sunday, where banks can borrow anonymously on especially favorable terms.

The former parent of collapsed Silicon Valley Bank, SVB Financial Group, has filed for bankruptcy protection. The group announced Friday that it had filed for creditor protection under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code in a New York court. Unlike its parent, Silicon Valley Bank, as a commercial bank and part of the Federal Reserve System itself, was not entitled to bankruptcy proceedings. Its assets were transferred to the U.S. deposit insurance FDIC by regulatory order.

For days, the U.S. government has been trying to ease the situation – so far, success has been limited. Following the collapse of start-up financier Silicon Valley Bank – the largest collapse of a U.S. money house since the 2008 financial crisis – the U.S. government had tried to calm the nerves of bank customers in the country over the weekend with a far-reaching deposit guarantee. On Thursday, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen reiterated at a congressional hearing in Washington that the banking system remains stable and safe and there is no need to worry about deposits. "The government has taken decisive and forceful action," Yellen said.