Credit Suisse, the second-largest Swiss lender, named Gael de Boissard co-leader of the investment-banking division and said it will merge asset management with the private bank to speed cost cutting.
Mr De Boissard (45) will join the executive board and lead the fixed-income business at the investment bank, while current chief Eric Varvel (49), will head equities and advisory, the Zurich-based company said in a statement today.
Chief executive officer Brady Dougan reaffirmed Credit Suisse's commitment to a fully-fledged investment bank three weeks after UBS, the biggest Swiss bank, announced it would cut 10,000 jobs and shrink debt-trading businesses to focus on money management.
Mr Dougan said Credit Suisse has already adapted the securities division to stricter regulation and will look to expand the debt unit as some rivals retrench.
"We're moving into a world where the structure is much less that everybody is going to be in every business," Mr Dougan (53) said in an interview today.
"The fixed-income business particularly is going to have to dramatically change. Our market shares in fixed-income business are stable and growing."
Credit Suisse fell as much as 3.4 per cent, and was down 2.5 per cent to 21.03 francs by 1.10pm in Swiss trading.
The stock has declined 4.7 per cent this year, compared with a 28 per cent gain in UBS.
The reorganisation will create a business with two divisions, investment banking and wealth management, that would each be expected to produce half the profits of the group when markets normalize, Mr Dougan said.
The investment bank contributed about 39 per cent to the group's pre-tax profit in the first nine months of this year.
The move will also accelerate and potentially increase the cost savings Credit Suisse is targeting, Mr Dougan said.
Mr Dougan declined to say how much the bank expects to save through the revamp or how many jobs may be cut.
Hans-Ulrich Meister (52) who headed the private bank, and Robert Shafir (54) who headed asset management, will lead the combined private banking and wealth management unit, which will include the Swiss trading business.
Bloomberg
