Swiss banks get emergency funds to fight crisis

Switzerland's two largest banks will receive emergency funding from the country's government and other investors to shore them up against the financial crisis, they said on Thursday.

The Swiss government will give UBS, the country's largest bank, a capital injection of 6 billion Swiss francs ($5.3 billion) in the form of mandatory convertible notes.

Switzerland's second-largest bank Credit Suisse Group AG said it had increased its Tier 1 capital by about 10 billion francs from several major investors, including a subsidiary of the Qatar Investment Authority, as it also announced a net loss of about 1.3 billion francs for the third quarter.

In a separate statement, the Swiss National Bank created a special purpose vehicle for THE orderly liquidation of illiquid assets, allowing UBS to transfer troubled assets of up to $60 billion.