Credit Suisse cuts 9,000 jobs to stem losses

Banking giant Credit Suisse is cutting thousands of jobs and restructuring its business in an attempt to stem heavy losses and investor concerns.

After scandals in recent years and a SF4bn ($4bn, £3.5bn) loss in the most recent quarter, the bank said it was taking "a series of decisive actions".

It said 9,000 posts would go over the next three years but did not say where the cuts would fall.

Chairman Axel Lehmann dubbed the overhaul a "blueprint for success".

But investors did not respond positively, with Credit Suisse shares down more than 13% following the announcement.

As part of the restructuring plan Credit Suisse aims to raise $4bn in new capital, $1.5bn of which will come from Saudi National Bank.

It plans to spin off the bank's investment arm, relaunching the CS First Boston brand, and wind down some of its higher-risk businesses.

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The workforce will fall from 52,000 now to 43,000 by the end of 2025, with 2,700 jobs going before the end of this year. Credit Suisse is based in Switzerland, but has a major hub in London and employs 5,500 people in the UK.

That will help it shrink its overall cost base by SFr2.5bn or 15% by 2025, it said.

It is also setting up a "bad bank" unit to house high-risk assets that it wants to wind down.

This is the third attempt in recent years to turn around the embattled group after a series of scandals hit the bank, once considered a stalwart of Swiss respectability.

In February 2020, its then chief executive Tidjane Thiam left after a scandal around covert surveillance operations. In March that year the Archegos investment fund imploded saddling Credit Suisse with huge losses and it was also dealt a blow by the collapse of the British finance company Greensill Capital.

Last year, the bank's chairman Antonio Horta-Osorio resigned after less than nine months for breaching Covid rules. Later the bank was fined for a corruption scandal involving Mozambique's tuna fishing industry.

This year the bank was fined over a money-laundering scandal related to a Bulgarian drugs ring, replaced its chief executive, and last month found its shares under pressure from investors concerned about the firm's financial health. Its share price has halved since January.

'Question marks'

Credit Suisse, Switzerland's second largest bank, said the restructuring would create "a simpler, more focused and more stable bank".

Ulrich Koerner, who took over as chief executive in July said the bank's performance this year had been affected by "continued challenging market and macroeconomic conditions".

"This is a historic moment for Credit Suisse. We are radically restructuring the investment bank to help create a new bank that is simpler, more stable and with a more focused business model built around client needs," he said.

JPMorgan analysts said that "question marks remain" over the restructuring, adding that the share sale to raise new money would weigh on the stock price.

Andreas Venditti, an analyst at Swiss investment managers Vontobel, said the plan was "just the first step in a lengthy process to restore credibility and regain the trust" of stakeholders.

"Resolute execution and no further mis-steps will be key and it will take time until results will begin to show," he said.