The Swiss bank is making more changes to the business hit with $4.7 billion in losses from hedge fund Archegos.
Zurich-based Credit Suisse appointed Roger Anerella head of its prime brokerage unit, effective immediately, according to a memo seen by finews.asia on Monday. He succeeds the unit's co-heads, John Dabbs and Ryan Nelson, who are stepping down immediately.
The duo's exit after a transition by mid-May represents the latest changes after Credit Suisse last month disclosed 4.4 billion Swiss francs ($4.7 billion) in damages from Archegos, a family office that had been a prime brokerage client. The unwind is the second disaster the Swiss bank walked into in short order, after Greensill.
Stabilizing And Remedying
Anerella «will focus on stabilizing the franchise, delivery of remediation actions and repositioning the business to deliver the highest level of service to our clients,» Credit Suisse's acting head of equities Anthony Abenante wrote in the memo, first reported by «The Wall Street Journal» (behind paywall).
The combination of Archegos and Greensill has roiled Credit Suisse, which promised an overhaul of its strategy under António Horta-Osório. Currently CEO of Lloyds, Horta-Osório who is due to be elected chairman next Friday.
Credit Suisse's Lost Decade
As long-time Chairman Urs Rohner wraps what is shaping up as a lost decade under his stewardship, the outgoing overseer has privately expressed doubts that the Swiss bank can continue to exist in its current form.
Anerella, a dealing room veteran who began his career at junk bond house Drexel Burnham Lambert in 1989, was one of a host of hires who followed top equities banker Mike Stewart from UBS to Credit Suisse in 2017. He is currently the deputy operating chief of Credit Suisse's investment bank, as well as COO of equities globally.
Pulling Off «Soft» Loss
Credit Suisse, last week reportedly still offloading Archegos positions, is due to details the damage with first-quarter results on Thursday. The Swiss lender has observers stumped about how it will pull off a pretax loss of «just» 900 million francs, after the wreckage.
Abenante, who is standing in as equities head in the wake of the scandal, also named Doug Crofton head of cash in the Americas, overseeing execution and advisory sales. The bank named Stuart McGuire in the same role for Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.
