The Swiss government is in talks with Credit Suisse about options to shore up confidence in the bank after the shares plunged the most on record Wednesday.

Comments from Saudi National Bank Chairman Ammar Al Khudairy prompted a dramatic selloff on huge volume, pushing the stock to an all-time low. One-year CDS spreads ballooned wider in an almost unfathomable move, inverting the bank’s CDS curve and creating very challenging optics for management.

By the end of the session, it looked as though the bank’s long-running existential crisis was nearing an unceremonious denouement.

According to multiple sources who spoke to Bloomberg, Credit Suisse executives and Swiss officials discussed a variety of ideas that ran the gamut from verbal support to a liquidity backstop to a shotgun wedding with UBS.

Also on the table: A spinoff of the profitable Swiss unit.

Contingency planning for the perpetually besieged behemoth has been in the works for “some time,” the linked article noted (there is “a folder” for this in Zurich, apparently), but the events of the past several days and, frankly, the price action witnessed over several hours Wednesday, laid bare how urgent the situation may be.

Earlier, the FT reported that Credit Suisse reached out to the SNB and the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority for a public statement of support. Eventually, the central bank and Finma issued a joint press release, promising liquidity “if necessary.”

Although CEO Ulrich Koerner insisted the bank’s liquidity position was strong, it’s safe to say the rapidity of Wednesday’s spiral didn’t go unnoticed by the bank’s clients who, while no strangers to adversity by now, may be running short on patience despite Koerner’s repeated assurances.

One way or another, government intervention seemed a foregone conclusion. Even if Koerner’s turnaround plan is viable, it’s expected to take years. To put it diplomatically, Wednesday suggested Credit Suisse likely can’t wait that long.

Just hours before the bank reportedly began discussions with Swiss authorities, Chairman Axel Lehmann told a conference that government aid “isn’t a topic.”