Just as Credit Suisse is strengthening its focus on wealth management, a veteran and key figure in its private banking division is leaving.
Veteran banker Yves-Alain Sommerhalder is leaving Credit Suisse, as «Bloomberg» (behind paywall) reported Monday.
The senior executive was promoted to head of financing and products across wealth management globally less than a year ago, as finews.com reported at the time. «Bloomberg» relies on anonymous sources in its report and speaks of one of the «most significant departures» that the international private bank division Wealth Management would have to face in recent times.
That is probably not an exaggeration. As finews.asia reported, the Swiss was appointed to his current role last January. This allowed the veteran, who actually comes from a trading background, to move up once again after 19 years with the Swiss bank. CS has not yet commented on his possible departure.
More Importance
In the new corporate strategy presented last week, the wealth management division gains even more importance, which had probably also helped Sommerhalder to gain more influence. Nevertheless, he has now apparently decided to turn his back on Switzerland's second-largest bank.
In the past third quarter, the wealth division struggled with outflows and tepid client activity; it is not yet clear how the division can take off in a highly adverse environment.
Lucrative Deals
Prior to his appointment to Wealth Management, the trading veteran had led GTS (formerly ITS), a trading unit set up under former CEO Tidjane Thiam to look for lucrative deals between wealth management and the investment bank. This team was repeatedly praised within the bank as an elite group.
