The Swiss bank officially handed over purchasing to a local firm. The measure forms part of a raft of spending cuts it is targeting in the wake of an annus horribilis.
Credit Suisse is tasking Chain IQ with its annual purchasing activities, from April 1, according to a memo from its procurement chief Daniel Helmig that was made available by the Zurich-based bank. The move will outsource $4.4 billion of spending, as finews.asia reported in November.
The move will see roughly half of Credit Suisse's procurement staff move to Chain IQ. It is a bid to lower spending after double hits Archegos and Greensill last year.
Growth Thanks To Cuts
The Swiss bank didn't disclose its current spending cuts target, but in November said it will fund growth initiatives of up to 1.5 billion Swiss francs ($1.62 billion) with «structural cost savings».
Chain IQ established itself nearly a decade ago when UBS moved its more than $8 billion annual purchasing volume to the Swiss firm.
Others In The Running
Credit Suisse said the firm, controlled by 57-year-old Swiss businessman Claudio Cisullo, won the job after a rigorous, detailed market test of several vendors last year.
IBM, Accenture, and Genpact were also in the running, finews.asia previously reported. Chain IQ, which currently employs about 470 people, has roughly 50 clients and an annual purchasing volume of around $21 billion. Its largest clients besides UBS include Thomson Reuters, BNP Paribas, and consultant Marsh & McLennan.
