The storied brand may resurface as part of the strategic reshuffle of its investment bank, although it could also portend something far different.
Credit Suisse is currently considering whether to resuscitate its long discarded First Boston name for its investment banking business, according to a «Bloomberg» report (paywall) released Friday that cited people familiar with the matter.
The brand had been retired in the early 2000s as part of a group-wide restructuring that involved changing the nomenclature for a number of businesses. It was also then seen as an attempt by Swiss management to reign in what had been considered a wayward, swashbuckling corporate culture. First Boston had been a widely recognized name in investment banking when Credit Suisse first bought a stake in it in the late 1970s and then assumed full ownership in it slightly more than a decade later.
The investment bank is currently undergoing its second annual consecutive strategic review, with the current one triggered after the appointment of Ulrich Koerner as group chief executive in July and following a series of debacles in recent years, among them the Greensill supply chain fund closures and the Archegos family office-hedge fund collapse.
Possible Spinoff
The intention is to restructure the investment banking business into «a capital-light, advisory-led» banking business and a «more focused» advisory business, with the review's conclusions expected to be released when the bank releases third-quarter results on 27 October.
But the step can also mean something entirely different. It could potentially be interpreted as a preliminary prelude to a future spin-off of the entire business given the revival of the former name would make it clearly more palatable and recognizable to any interested investors, particularly North American ones. Or, in the case of a management buyout, as a name that senior investment bankers could better stand for in a crowded market.
