Executives at Credit Suisse are said to be discussing thousands of job cuts to bring its costs under control.
Credit Suisse executives under newly minted CEO Ulrich Koerner are said to be discussing cutting thousands of employees from its 50,000 plus strong headcount, according to a «Bloomberg» (behind paywall) report citing people familiar with the matter.
Koerner, who was named as CEO just this week has been put in charge of a review of the bank's strategic plan which seeks to reduce costs to under 15.5 billion Swiss francs ($16.1 billion). Among the measures being discussed, according to the «Bloomberg» story, are cutting several thousand jobs over an unspecified number of years. Other measures are putting the bank's middle and back office inefficiencies under review and reshaping the investment bank.
As finews.asia recently reported, details around the strategic plan were short on specifics, and a spokesman for the bank said that any reporting on outcomes before the strategy update is «entirely speculative.»
Precedent for Job Cuts
If the past is indeed a prologue, there could be something to jobs being on the chopping block. Koerner, who has been dubbed «Uli the Knife» by some in a nod to his cost and job-cutting history, saw UBS cut its headcount by around 15,000 in the wake of the financial crisis while he was the bank's CFO.
Credit Suisse has faced a raft of departures of late, including today when it was announced that a team left the bank for BNP Paribas to head its Swiss private banking division.
