Credit Suisse, one of the banks perceived as the most fragile in Europe, plunged 9.15% and hit a new all-time low around 09:45 GMT. In France, BNP Paribas fell by 6.81% and Société Générale by 5.99%.
The head of the Swiss institution's largest shareholder, the Saudi National Bank, said in an interview with Bloomberg TV that he "absolutely did not" intend to help Credit Suisse in the event of a new request for liquidity "for several reasons beyond those that are regulatory and statutory".
The main European indices lost between 1.25% in London and 1.85% in Paris while they had opened only slightly lower.
Elsewhere in Europe, Unicredit lost 4.78%, Banca Sabadell 4.92%, Commerzbank 4.52%.
After being in great difficulty on Friday and Monday, most European banks recovered a little color on Tuesday and their price rebounded, while remaining well below that of Thursday at the close.
Investors are worried about the risks of contagion after the bankruptcy of several US institutions, including the Sillicon Valley Bank, despite the measures taken by the US authorities and the assurances given by European leaders.
© 2023 AFP