U.S. stocks plummeted Wednesday amid global investors' fears over the health of the banking industry. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell over 500 points during the trading session.

Following the regional crisis triggered by the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, the fresh troubles at Credit Suisse caused markets to be unnerved. The European bank's largest investor, Saudi National Bank, recently said it could no longer provide assistance, leading to shares of Credit Suisse to fall 22% in afternoon trading.

Credit Suisse has struggled for years to turn around its fortunes, admitting earlier this week it had found "certain material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting" for the years 2021 and 2022.

As Credit Suisse leaves its mark on the European Bank sector, the heaviest losses in the U.S. market were felt by smaller and mid-sized regional banks, as their customers remain more likely to remove their money en masse.

First Republic Bank, Western Alliance Bancorporation, PacWest Bancorp, Regions Financial, and Zions Bancorporation all saw declines on Wednesday, along with large-cap index members JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, and Citigroup.

There have been eight interest rate hikes in the span of 12 months by the Federal Reserve. The Fed has hoped the hikes would bring down record inflation.

The Fed is scheduled to meet next week to discuss and set new rates.

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