A nervous day for European share markets ahead of the first day of trading since the purchase of Credit Suisse.

Markets started the day sharply lower, but have recovered slightly, with the London Stock Exchange closing on around 0.9 percent.

In Switzerland, Credit Suisse's new owner UBS also closed on 1.5 percent higher.

Europe correspondent Catherine Field told Mike Hosking the central banks are adamant it's not a repeat of 2008.

She says the banks are saying it might look bad, and it's not good that UBS has had to take over Credit Suisse, but they're not in a recession.

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