Credit Suisse and Swiss authorities in talks

Among the options talked about were a public show of support for the investment bank or a liquidity backstop, Bloomberg reported citing people familiar with the matter.

Another idea broached entailed separating its profitable Swiss unit and combining it with Swiss rival UBS.

Scenario planning had reportedly been undergoing for some time but according to the same sources it was unclear which, if any of those steps, would finally be decided upon.

A statement of support from the country's central bank and the Swiss stock market regulator, Finma, might be forthcoming as soon as Wednesday.

As of 1905 GMT, Credit Suisse's American Depositary Receipts were trading off by 20.32% to $1.995, having briefly pared their losses a little on the back of the report.