Top Credit Suisse executives are reportedly meeting in Singapore this week to discuss various topics, including the possibility of downsizing its China business.
Top Credit Suisse executives including CEO Ulrich Koerner and Asia Pacific head Edwin Low are meeting this week in Singapore to review long-term business plans as part of its second strategic review in less than a year, according to a «Bloomberg» report citing unnamed sources. Among the topics the Swiss lender plans to discuss is the China business, with top executives believed to be considering whether or not to shrink it. Managers in Asia are expected to make a case for continued invcstment in the market.
Credit Suisse is expected to present its strategic review when earnings in the third quarter are disclosed on 27 October 2022.
China Woes
In the previous strategic review under ex-CEO Thomas Gottstein, the bank underlined a strong pivot to the APAC region and signaled ambitions to woo wealthy clients in mainland China, Hong Kong, and Singapore. But since then, the bank has suffered continued losses and its China business has reportedly lost nearly half its personnel. Mainland China's securities regulator has stated that Credit Suisse will need to fix the high staff turnover before it makes the on-site inspection required to approve its planned new business.
«As part of our strategy, we continue to invest in our China footprint, including our immediate focus of taking full ownership of our securities joint venture, as we have stated previously,» said a spokesperson for the bank, adding: «We will update on the progress of our comprehensive strategic review when we announce our third-quarter earnings, but any reporting on potential outcomes before that is purely speculative.»
Credit Suisse won approval to take control of its China securities unit two years ago but has yet to be greenlighted to roll out the business.
