Credit Suisse executives also flagged tough times ahead, saying capital could remain constrained over the next six months as the bank continues to make significant remediation outlays towards compliance and risk. Its core capital metric, or common equity tier 1 ratio, dipped to 13.8 per cent from 14.4 per cent at end-2021.
Chief Financial Officer David Mathers would depart as soon as a suitable successor was found, while Group General Counsel Romeo Cerutti would retire after more than 10 years, to be replaced by former UBS General Counsel Markus Diethelm. In recent months, it has also become a defendant in the first criminal trial against a major bank in Switzerland, while a Bermuda court in March ruled a local arm of the lender owed billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili in excess of $500-million over a long-running fraud committed by a former adviser.
“The detailed release today is another negative surprise,” Jefferies analysts said in a note. “Removing all of the above one-offs and getting to an adjusted basis, the picture remains concerning in our view.”Investors have been looking for signs of how the series of scandals is impacting the bank’s client relationships, seen as the bedrock of Credit Suisse’s core wealthy and ultra-wealthy segments of the wealth management business.
Credit Suisse announced plans in November to rein in its investment bankers and exit prime services, the business responsible for booking a multi-billion dollar hit following the collapse of U.S. investment firm Archegos in March 2021.