He came, set goals and forced through change at Credit Suisse come what may: CEO Tidjane Thiam. Time now for a critical assessment of his three years as CEO.
It was a huge gamble by Urs Rohner, chairman of Credit Suisse, to appoint Tidjane Thiam as successor to Brady Dougan in 2015. Just how this gamble could have turned out can be seen by taking a look at one of its global rivals, Deutsche Bank.
There the situation after a three-year-long strategic zig-zag looks worse than before, and John Cryan, the turn-around hope who was welcomed with open arms, was sent packing by the board last spring.
Quite the reverse at Credit Suisse: There celebrations were the order of the day last week after CEO Thiam won the «Excellence Award for Banker of the Year» by «Euromoney».
Whoever assesses the state of Credit Suisse now now, after Thiam’s determination and vision helped revamp Switzerland’s second-largest financial institution, won’t be surprised by the accolade.
Limited Euphoria
Thiam's performance deserves respect and recognition. The franco-Ivorian has restructured, recapitalized and refocused Credit Suisse in a very difficult banking environment.
Nevertheless, apart from within Credit Suisse’s «inner circle», there has been little noticeable euphoria over Thiam’s achievements, as finews.asia in several discussions with Swiss bankers have shown.
Why is this? finews.asia assesses Thiam's achievements and shortcomings.
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