After Credit Suisse’s demise, attention turns to Deutsche Bank

In recent weeksubs, euro-zone investors have experienced a sense of disbelief. Could really stay confined to America and Switzerland? On March 24th, as European bank stocks slumped, the disbelief faded. By the end of the day Christine Lagarde, president of the European Central Bank, had commented that Europe’s banks were safe and liquid enough to withstand market scrutiny.The sell-off started with Deutsche Bank, a German lender that has, over the years, been dogged by trouble. Its credit-default swaps, tradable insurance against defaults on a bank’s debt, jumped to near-record levels. In response, investors dumped the firm’s shares, which fell by 14%. Fear spread. By mid-afternoon the Euro Stoxx 600 banks index, which contains the region’s biggest lenders, had lost 5%. After the , which ended in a tie-up with on March 19th, investors wondered if another fateful weekend lay ahead.