The veteran is advancing to a key lieutenant to Credit Suisse boss Thomas Gottstein, though he represents the «old» world of investment banking which the Swiss lender desperately needs to tame.
April 30 marks the end of Brian Chin's meteoric rise through Credit Suisse's ranks: at just 43, the American banker last year was promoted to run the Swiss lender's entire investment banking activities, after taking over in 2016 when his boss, Tim O’Hara, was sacked.
Chin is among the most prominent victims of Archegos, which may take a $4.7 billion bite out of Credit Suisse, which slashed its dividend and pledged to draw «serious lessons» from the debacle. The hedge fund hit is its second in less than a month: the Swiss bank's $10.1 billion supply chain funds sparked a disastrous chain of events for fund investors.
Surprising Return
Christian Meissner, who left Bank of America three years ago, will take over for Chin. The move marks a surprising return to investment banking for the 51-year-old – and the second time he is being touted as a potential candidate to run a major Swiss bank.
Just last year, the Austrian dealmaker's career prospects didn't look so rosy: he had left the U.S. investment bank in 2018, reportedly after disagreeing with CEO Brian Moynihan. Meissner, the «Financial Times» (behind paywall) reported at the time, grew increasingly frustrated with Bank of America's careful approach to risk.
Speculated For UBS
A year later, he surfaced as a potential big-name hire at UBS, which reportedly toyed with the idea of grooming him to replace then-CEO Sergio Ermotti. The talks apparently foundered – amid speculation Meissner had floated the idea himself. Last February, the Swiss bank named Ralph Hamers as Ermotti's successor.
After two years wandering in the desert, Julius Baer offered him a board membership. Meissner's boardroom career proved short-lived: Credit Suisse's top private banker Philipp Wehle hired him last autumn to better link up wealthy clients with capital market services. Ironically, Meissner had reported to Chin, whom he is now replacing.
Left Holding Bag
Meissner is the obvious choice for Chin: roughly 30 years of capital markets experience, including in Europe besides the U.S. The move also places him in a key position in case CEO Thomas Gottstein doesn't survive the double-whammy of Archegos and Greensill.
However if Credit Suisse makes a genuine attempt to tame its Wall Street DNA, Meissner stands poor odds of advancing further: he cut his teeth at Goldman Sachs and Lehman Brothers, and has little wealth management experience save for the past year.
Chin's failing is that Credit Suisse was left holding the bag when Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley began offloading major Archegos positions last week following margin calls. The $4.4 billion Swiss francs ($4.7 billion) seriously undermined Credit Suisse's acumen as a savvy investment bank.
