Covid-19 credits

On this page, you will find information and data about Covid-19 credits for companies. To ensure liquidity, companies affected by the Covid-19 crisis were eligible to apply for bridging credits guaranteed by the federal government between March 26th 2020 and July 31st 2020.

Fully repaid Covid-19 bridging credits

The tables below show the fully repaid Covid-19 bridging credits by year and by sector. After a full repayment, the corresponding guarantee organizations are released from the Covid-19 solidarity guarantee by the lenders. Partial repayments without guarantee exoneration are not shown in the table below.

Fully repaid Covid-19 bridging credits by year

Last updated: 24.05.2023

Fully repaid Covid-19 bridging credits by sectors

*The Federal Statistical Office (FSO) publishes a list of all sectors (2-digit NOGA codes) on its website.

Last updated: 24.05.2023

Honoring on guarantees under the Covid-19 bridging credits

The following tables provide information on the honoring of guarantees under the Covid-19 bridging loan programme, by year, by banking group and by sector. These are Covid-19 briding loans for which the banks have drawn down the guarantee. With the transfer of the honored amount from the guarantee organisations to the banks, the claims against the borrowers are transferred to the guarantee organisations. The honored amount may differ from the credit volume granted, as the banks only call on the guarantee for the portion of the loan that the borrowers have used. Reported here are the guarantees as reported by the guarantee organisations, which may differ from federal expenditures as stated in the government financial statements due to differences in the timing of the accounting entries.

Honoring on guarantees by year

Last updated: 24.05.2023

Honoring on guarantees by banking group

* Credit Suisse and UBS

Last updated: 24.05.2023

Honoring on guarantees by sectors

*The Federal Statistical Office (FSO) publishes a list of all sectors (2-digit NOGA codes) on its website.

Last updated: 24.05.2023

Receivables management after honoring of guarantees under the Covid-19 bridging credits

The following table provides information on the receivables management of the honored guarantees under the Covid-19 bridging credits. After the guarantee has been honored, the outstanding receivables from the respective Covid 19 bridging credit are transferred from the lending bank to the guarantee organization for receivables management. In the course of the receivables management, the guarantee organizations take all necessary precautions to recover outstanding receivables (recoveries). The receivables management is discontinued if either the entire outstanding amount has been recovered or no further recoveries are possible (uncollectible receivables). In the case of uncollectible receivables, a distinction is made between guarantees for which it was possible to recover part of the amount honored (partial loss) and those for which it was not possible to generate any recoveries (total loss). Reasons for incurring uncollectible receivables after honoring guarantees under the Covid-19 bridging credits are: The borrower is a dissolved or bankrupt corporation. The borrower is deceased.¹

Overview of receivables management

Last updated: 24.05.2023

¹ In cases of bankruptcy and decease, uncollectible receivables may arise due to a lack of assets or because a loss certificate issued to the guarantee organization cannot be further managed.

² The uncollectible receivables amounts are calculated from the honored guarantee volume less the recoveries.

³ In cases of abuse under the Covid-19-Solidarbürgschaftsverordnung and the Covid-19-Solidarbürgschaftsgesetz, recoveries can exceed the amount honored due to interests on late payments and damage interests.

Receivables management: recoveries by year

The table below provides information on guarantees under the Covid-19 bridging credits honored in the year indicated, for which recoveries have resulted to date.

Last updated: 24.05.2023

Further analyses of the bridging credits granted

The following charts illustrate distributions of granted Covid-19 bridging credits by selected specifications, such as canton or sector. These visualizations provide background knowledge and are based on data from the guarantee organizations. In order to exclude any conclusions about individual companies and to guarantee their anonymity, only aggregated data can be made available. Due to rounding, it is possible that the sum of the shares may not be 100%.

Status: 07.09.2021

Download data as CSV

Download figures as PDF

The following two figures illustrate the development over time of the granting of Covid-19 bridging credits up to 500’000 Swiss francs and are based on the data of the guarantee organizations.

Last updated: 24.05.2023

Download data as CSV

Reports of abuse

The table below contains potential and actual cases of abuse under the Covid-19-Solidarbürgschaftsverordnung (in German) and the Covid-19-Solidarbürgschaftsgesetz (in German). Here you find the concept for the detection and prevention of abuse (in German). The statistics show the cases of which the loan guarantee cooperatives are aware, either because they have filed a criminal complaint themselves or because they have been informed about them by third parties. They are not complete with regard to criminal charges of which the loan guarantee cooperatives are not aware. The statistics are updated on an ongoing basis.

*Including criminal complaints from third parties of which the loan guarantee cooperatives are aware.

**The reported delinquency amount corresponds to the volume of credits at the time they were granted. No account is taken of whether losses have effectively been incurred.

¹ As of the commencement of the Covid-19-Solidarbürgschaftsgesetz (Covid-19-SBüG) (in German) on December 19, 2020, the prohibition to carry out new investments in fixed assets that are not replacement investments has been lifted (cf. Art. 27 para. 2 Covid-19-SBüG).

² As of the commencement of the Covid-19-SBüG on December 19, 2020, already the decision on the payment of dividends is unlawful (cf. Art. 2 para. 2 lit. a Covid-19-SBüG and Official Bulletin: AB 2020 N 2040 of October 30, 2020, and AB 2020 S 1314 f. of December 10, 2020).

Last updated: 24.05.2023

In addition, the statistics from the Money Laundering Reporting Office (MROS) showed all a) reports according to the Money Laundering Act or the Criminal Code, as well as b) the number of complaints filed by MROS with law enforcement agencies (according to Art. 23 para. 4 Money Laundering Act) until the end of 2021. The MROS statistics can show cases that are also included in the above table of abuse reports.

Open cases after criminal complaint

The following table shows the open cases after criminal complaints have been filed of which the loan guarantee cooperatives are aware, either because they filed the criminal complaints themselves or because they were informed about them by third parties. It is not complete with regard to criminal complaints of which the loan guarantee cooperatives have no knowledge. The statistics are updated on an ongoing basis.

Open cases after criminal complaint per canton

*Including criminal complaints filed by third parties of which the loan guarantee cooperatives are aware.

**The reported delinquency amount corresponds to the volume of credits at the time they were granted. No account is taken of whether losses have effectively been incurred.

Last updated: 24.05.2023

Closed cases after criminal complaint

Below is a table with the closed cases by type of abus, by canton and a table of guilty verdicts by industry after criminal complaints have been filed. These are criminal complaints of which the loan guarantee cooperatives are aware, either because they filed the criminal complaints themselves or because they have been informed about them by third parties. It is not complete with regard to criminal complaints of which the loan guarantee cooperatives have no knowledge. The statistics are updated on an ongoing basis.

Closed cases by type of abuse

*The reported delinquency amount corresponds to the volume of credits at the time they were granted. No account is taken of whether losses have effectively been incurred.

¹ As of the commencement of the Covid-19-Solidarbürgschaftsgesetz (Covid-19-SBüG) (in German) on December 19, 2020, the prohibition to carry out new investments in fixed assets that are not replacement investments has been lifted (cf. Art. 27 para. 2 Covid-19-SBüG).

² As of the commencement of the Covid-19-SBüG on December 19, 2020, already the decision on the payment of dividends is unlawful (cf. Art. 2 para. 2 lit. a Covid-19-SBüG and Official Bulletin: AB 2020 N 2040 of October 30, 2020, and AB 2020 S 1314 f. of December 10, 2020).

Last updated: 24.05.2023

*The reported delinquency amount corresponds to the volume of credits at the time they were granted. No account is taken of whether losses have effectively been incurred.

Last updated: 24.05.2023

Guilty verdicts by industry

*The reported delinquency amount corresponds to the volume of credits at the time they were granted. No account is taken of whether losses have effectively been incurred.

**The Federal Statistical Office (FSO) publishes a list of all sectors (2-digit NOGA codes) on its website.

Last updated: 24.05.2023

Banks: Participation list, documents and information

Here is a list of the 125 banks that have granted Covid-19 loans.

Bank-specific documents:

• Framework regarding Covid-19 loans up to CHF 500,000 for participating banks
• Guarantee contract (09.04.2020)

Bank-specific information:

• Swiss Bankers Association: www.swissbanking.org: Coronavirus – Swiss financial centre
• Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority FINMA: www.finma.ch | Media release of 25.03.2020
• Swiss National Bank SNB: www.snb.ch | Media release of 25.03.2020

Legal basis

• Verordnung über die Anpassung der Zinssätze nach dem Covid-19-Solidarbürgschaftsgesetz (german) (29.03.2023)
• Erläuterungen zur Verordnung über die Anpassung der Zinssätze nach dem Covid-19-Solidarbürgschaftsgesetz (german) (29.03.2023)
• Bundesgesetz über Kredite mit Solidarbürgschaft infolge des Coronavirus (german) (18.12.2020)
• Botschaft zu Änderungen des Covid-19-Gesetzes und des Covid-19-Solidarbürgschaftsgesetzes (german) (18.11.2020)
• Entwurf für das Bundesgesetz über Kredite mit Solidarbürgschaft infolge des Coronavirus (german) (18.09.2020)
• Botschaft zum Bundesgesetz über Kredite mit Solidarbürgschaft infolge des Coronavirus (german) (18.09.2020)
• Vorentwurf für das Bundesgesetz über Kredite mit Solidarbürgschaft infolge des Coronavirus (german) (01.07.2020)
• Erläuternder Bericht zum Vorentwurf des Bundesgesetzes über Kredite mit Solidarbürgschaft infolge des Coronavirus (german) (01.07.2020)
• Notverordnung zur Gewährung von Krediten und Solidarbürgschaften infolge des Coronavirus (german) (25.03.2020)
• Erläuterungen zur Notverordnung zur Gewährung von Krediten und Solidarbürgschaften in Folge des Coronavirus (german) (14.04.2020)

Media releases

• Media release of 29.03.2023
  Federal Council adjusts interest rates for COVID-19 credits
• Media release of 02.02.2022
  Covid-19-Kredite: Bundesrat belässt Zinsen unverändert und begrüsst Amortisationsregelungen
• Media release of 17.02.2021
  Coronavirus: Bundesrat erweitert Unterstützung für grössere Unternehmen und Arbeitslose
• Media release of 27.01.2021
  Coronavirus: Bundesrat stockt Härtefallprogramm auf und stärkt Arbeitslosenversicherung
• Media release of 13.01.2021:
  Coronavirus: Bund baut Unterstützung über das Härtefallprogramm aus
• Media release of 18.11.2020:
  Coronavirus: Federal Council adjusts Covid-19 support measures to second wave
• Media release of 18.09.2020:
  Coronavirus: Federal Council adopts dispatch on new Joint and Several Guarantee Act
• Media release of 01.07.2020:
  Coronavirus: Emergency ordinance on Covid-19 credits to be incorporated into ordinary law
• Media release of 15.05.2020:
  Covid-19 Kredite: Konzept zur Missbrauchsbekämpfung verabschiedet (with first version of the audit concept for preventing abuse)
• Media release of 03.04.2020:
  Federal Council increases volume of liquidity assistance guarantees to CHF 40 billion
• Media release of 25.03.2020:
  Coronavirus: Federal Council adopts emergency ordinance on granting of credits with joint and several federal guarantees
• Media release of 20.03.2020:
  Coronavirus: Massnahmenpaket zur Abfederung der wirtschaftlichen Folgen

Parliamentary initiatives

The following table shows the parliamentary initiatives related to the Covid-19 bridging credits program.

Other information

• Stellungnahmen aus der Vernehmlassung zum Covid-19-Solidarbürgschaftsgesetz (german)
• Current version of the audit concept for preventing abuse (german) (23.06.2020)
• Process graphic «Covid-19 credit»
• Process graphic «Covid-19 plus credit»
• Fuhrer, Lucas Marc/Ramelet, Marc-Antoine/Tenhofen, Jörn (2020). Firms’ participation in the Covid-19 loan programme, SNB Working Papers No. 25/2020, Swiss National Bank.
• Kaufmann, Daniel (2020). Does government-backed lending reduce unemployment? An assessment of the Swiss Covid-19 credit program, IRENE Working Papers No. 20-10, Institute of Economic Research, University of Neuchâtel.
• KOF Konjunkturforschungsstelle ETH Zürich (2021). Firmenkonkurse schiessen im Mai nach oben. (german)
• «Audit of the involvement of third parties in the implementation of COVID-19 measures – State Secretariat for Economic Affairs» by the Swiss Federal Audit Office (SFAO) (22.8.2022) (summary in English)

Media contact

medien@seco.admin.ch