Credit Suisse’s cost-cutting drive in Asia is in full swing, with jobs lost across the board in private and investment banking.
As part of its strategy unveiled last month, Credit Suisse plans to reduce its global headcount by 9,000 to 43,000 by end-2025, including 2,700 job cuts already underway this quarter. In recent weeks, exits have already ramped up at the troubled Swiss lender across its private and investment banking businesses in Asia.
On the former, the bank is seeking to reduce headcount by up to 10 percent across wealth management teams, sources told finews.asia.
Most recently, it saw the exit of three South Asia private bankers in Rai-Rummaan Kharal, Haroon Tufail and Shahid Qazi. Credit Suisse also simplified its regional wealth business last week by flattening its structure and shifting senior personnel with the aim of improving organizational agility, finews.asia reported.
Investment Bank Outflows
And on the latter business, there have also been senior departures in the region including APAC head of equity capital markets Johnson Chui, the financing group’s Karen Yap and head of ratings advisory Ee-lin Tan, according to a «Bloomberg» report citing unnamed sources.
«Asia Pacific represents exciting opportunities and remains a key pillar of growth for the bank globally,» Credit Suisse said in a statement. «We remain fully committed to the region with a differentiated value proposition. The decisive actions announced to transform the bank will strengthen our franchise in the region with a laser focus on serving our clients.»
China Plans
Despite the outflows, Credit Suisse’s plans are not limited to job cuts but also new hires.
According to Asia Pacific chief executive Edwin Low in a recent conversation with finews.asia, China and Hong Kong will see the strongest headcount growth rate in the region in the coming five years. The bank plans to apply for more licenses to expand its onshore business in mainland China with an eye on becoming a locally incorporated lender in the long term.
