The restructuring of Credit Suisse is being implemented quite swiftly. Still, there are some challenges down the road.
Top executives of Credit Suisse (CS) have not only considered merging private banking and asset management to one division, they also have very clear ideas about what is going to happen in the next few weeks, as investigations by finews.ch have found.
It is clear that merging the two divisions will result in several parallel procedures and further job cuts. A lot of employees are therefore pretty nervous.
Constant critics
Emotions are the one thing. Practically, however, the current situation must be judged with more differentiation. Internally, CS staff is split into three groups: Around 30 percent of employees should be «first movers», who are rather positive about changes inside the bank as they see chances for professional development in them.
Around half of the members of staff – that's how it is supposed inside CS – will let the reorganization happen just like earlier restructurings. Around 20 percent of the members of staff do, however, oppose the plans for integration vehemently. The critics, which are constantly making claims in online media and forums, are to be found in that group, too.
Job cuts in the second quarter
As investigations by finews.ch have revealed, organizational and process changes are to be identified by the end of April 2013. The measurements as agreed upon are then to be implemented by the end of June 2013, as various individuals, who are familiar with the procedures, have told.
In contrary to the frequently made claim saying that the whole restructuring was happening because of Anglo-Saxon decisions, there are several hints suggesting that most of the decisions are actually made in Switzerland and that also Swiss representatives are responsible for them.
New responsibilities
Yves-Alain Sommerhalders (picture) nomination for the post of the head of the securities trade platform in Uetlihof / Zurich, for example, does not only mean that a Swiss person is given an extremely important position. He is also a person very close to Hans-Ulrich Meister, who is responsible for much of the reorganization of CS overall.
Sommerhalder is less than 40 years of age, but has been working at Credit Suisse for more than 10 years now. Most recently, he has been collecting experiences in the customer care for wealthy private clients in Asia. Due to this Background, he is also close with Rolf Bögli, who is – among other duties – responsible for these customers domestically, too.
Known name
The nomination of Iqbal Khan constitutes another recent appointment of a Swiss national for a central position as finews.ch has been reporting on. Having so far been an advisor of Ernst & Young with wide professional knowledge in banking and being very renowned in the sector, he will be in charge of acting as the Chief Financial Officer for the Private Banking & Wealth Management Division.
In his position, Khan will report to both division heads Hans-Ulrich Meister and Robert Shafir. Additionally, he will provide reports to the group's financial director, David Mathers.
Planned appointment of a Chief Investment Officer
As further investigations of finews.ch have found out, also a Chief Investment Officer for the Private Banking and Wealth Management Division will be appointed in the next few weeks. He will not come from an Anglo-Saxon background, either. His duties will cover different sectors for analysis and advice and this will be in an important position for the further orientation of the investment strategy.
Last but not least the reorganization within Credit Suisse is indeed happening under advisors of McKinsey. However, they are not US-restructurers, who fly in from London or New York, but Swiss representatives headed by senior banking experts Christian Casal and Felix Wenger, who are involved in the restructuring activities.
Transformation over several years
The changes, which have been started at Credit Suisse recently, should stretch out over several years until the new structure will be finally implemented and fully working. Representatives of CS make this point very clear at any possible occasion. That is why new insecurities should occur continuously.
It also remains unclear, how the environment of the sector changes and how the Swiss financial market will be positioned in the international context in the future.
