Reports out of Switzerland over the weekend have indicated that Credit Suisse is preparing to announce strategic changes which will be tied to a planned capital increase as early as October, including modifications which will certainly impact the Asian business.
Chief Executive Officer Tidjane Thiam said in July that he planned to shrink parts of the investment bank and already Switzerland’s second largest bank announced last week that five senior investment bankers would be departing Credit Suisse Group AG in Asia.
Thiam has made no secret of his desire to shift the Swiss bank’s focus to managing wealth for the affluent clients and focus on growth in Asia, a methodology not too dissimilar to the approach of UBS Group AG, Credit Suisse’s larger rival.
The potential measures, which have yet to be approved by the board of directors, are designed to strengthen the lender’s capital base and enable investment in new businesses; this may also include the acquisition of a wealth management business.
It is thought that Credit Suisse may reduce prime-brokerage and fixed-income businesses along with the disposal of the firms U.S. private banking business.
