GENEVA (AP) — Swiss bank Credit Suisse unveiled Thursday a “radical strategy” aimed to beat a string of recent troubles which have dented its fame.
The Zurich-based bank announced plans to chop costs, lower staff counts and reduce risk. It also said it’ll revive the CS First Boston investment bank brand, once a stalwart of Wall Street, because it reported a 4-billion Swiss franc ($4.1 billion) loss within the third quarter.
The “historical moment” for the Zurich-based bank, as latest CEO Ulrich Koerner put it, comes as Credit Suisse acknowledged a “disappointing” recent performance at a time of market and macroeconomic uncertainty.
Chairman Axel Lehmann said the bank had turn into “unfocused,” and its board had assessed its future direction.
“Today we’re announcing the results of that process -– a radical strategy and a transparent execution plan to create a stronger, more resilient and more efficient bank with a firm foundation, focused on our clients and their needs,” Lehman said, insisting a “cultural transformation” was under way.
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The bank plans to scale back its cost base by about 15% -– or 2.5 billion Swiss francs ($2.5 billion) -– by 2025, and said a “headcount reduction” of about 5% of its workforce -– about 2,700 employees -– was already under way.
Credit Suisse has sought transformations before and has faced issues including bad bets on hedge fund investments, amongst other troubles. Last week it announced settlements in america and France.
The bank said it has struck a deal to transfer a “good portion” of its securitized products group to an investor group led by Apollo Global Management.
Credit Suisse said revenues within the third quarter rose 4% to three.8 billion Swiss francs ($3.9 billion).
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