Credit Suisse To Axe Up To 6,500 Jobs As WM Drive Continues

Josh O'Neill

15 February 2017

Credit Suisse is to slash up to 6,500 jobs this year as chief executive Tidjane Thiam continues to drive cost cutting efforts, place less emphasis on investment banking and shift the group's business strategy more towards wealth management, media reports said.

Although Switzerland's second-largest bank delivered strong performance in terms of asset growth and other measures in the final three months of last year, the group as a whole logged a net loss of $2.43 billion for 2016.

Thiam, who took over at the Zurich-headquartered bank 18 months ago, has outlined turnaround plans that included cutting billions of dollars in costs to help it recover from a multitude of hefty litigation fees.

“We're setting a target now of between 5,500 and 6,500 for 2017,” chief financial officer David Mathers reportedly said in a call with analysts earlier this week after the bank published its 2016 earnings.

The bank supposedly failed to specify where the cuts would come but said this would include contractors, consultants and staff.

Credit Suisse reportedly said it was still preparing to sell between 20 per cent and 30 per cent of its Swiss business through an initial public offering but left its options open to drive profit margins. The Swiss banking giant reportedly said a flotation depended on market conditions and board approval.

“We will continue as planned our preparations for an IPO in the second half of 2017,” Thiam reportedly told analysts on the call.

“That said, we will also continue to analyse the evolution of our regulatory environment which is key in this and, as we always do, continuously examine a broad range of options to determine if there are ways to reach a more attractive risk/reward outcome for our shareholders,” he reportedly added.