The Swiss bank is entrusting a high-profile investment banker turned blockchain pioneer with new technology and digitization remit on its board.

Zurich-based Credit Suisse is reorganizing its board, it said in a statement on Monday. Most notably, it is adding a new board committee for digital transformation and technology, and tasked Blythe Masters with overseeing it.

This does away with an innovation and technology advisory committee which had been chaired Urs Rohner until his departure in April. Masters, a 52-year-old Brit, will step down from her current committees – risk as well as compensation – for the new tech committee.

Banking To Blockchain

Masters was the finance chief of J.P. Morgan Chase's investment bank and later its top commodities banker before joining Digital Asset Holdings, a financial technology firm, where she was CEO until 2018. She joined Credit Suisse's board seven months ago, at the same time as António Horta-Osório, its chairman, was elected.

Her appointment, as well as the committee, is a nod to the growing importance of technology for Credit Suisse. The bank briefly counted ex-Google executive Sebastian Thrun as a director but has had little devoted technology expertise since he departed in 2016.

Whittling Board Ranks

The move comes several months after it named Ana Paula Pessoa as its chair in Brazil. Credit Suisse also said it will eventually whittle its board to at most 12, from 14 currently – after reinforcing its ranks in October.

Iris Bohnet, a Harvard professor who chairs Credit Suisse's sustainability committee, and Michael Klein, a former Citi dealmaker who has emerged prominently in the SPAC or special purpose acquisition boom, were not entrusted with additional duties.

The bank also named the following line-up of additional roles for its directors, effective from January: 

Juan Colombas: Credit Suisse Bank (Europe)

Christian Gellerstad: Credit Suisse (Switzerland)

Blythe Masters: Credit Suisse Holdings (U.S.)

Richard Meddings: Credit Suisse International and Credit Suisse Securities (Europe) in the U.K.

Kai Nargolwala: Credit Suisse Asia Pacific

Peter Derendinger, John Devine, and Bruce Richards – who chair the Swiss, European, and U.S. arms, respectively, won't stand for reelection.