Credit Suisse's U.S. Private-Banking Chief Departs -- Update
November 16 2015 - 12:25PM
Dow Jones News
By John Letzing
ZURICH-- Credit Suisse Group AG is parting company with U.S.
private banking head Philip Vasan, according to an internal memo,
marking the latest impact of a shake-up at the Swiss bank.
Zurich-based Credit Suisse is shifting focus under recently
appointed Chief Executive Tidjane Thiam, who took over in July. The
new strategy involves bolstering private-banking efforts in Asia,
as well as unloading Credit Suisse's U.S.-based private-banking
business to Wells Fargo & Co. by next year, among other
measures.
Mr. Vasan will leave Credit Suisse in the spring, after the
expected transfer of the private-banking unit to Wells Fargo,
according to a memo seen by The Wall Street Journal. He has been
with Credit Suisse for more than two decades. Before becoming the
head of U.S. private banking, Mr. Vasan ran Credit Suisse's
prime-brokerage unit, providing services to hedge funds.
He couldn't immediately be reached for comment.
Under the bank's new strategy unveiled by Mr. Thiam last month,
Credit Suisse aims to redouble its wealth management efforts in
Asia, where demand for banking services for the wealthy is
soaring.
Mr. Vasan was tapped in 2013 by Mr. Thiam's predecessor, former
CEO Brady Dougan, to oversee a turnaround effort at the bank's U.S.
private banking unit, which had been losing money.
But Mr. Thiam has opted for a swift exit from U.S. private
banking, rather than prolonging efforts to revamp the unit.
"In the U.S., our domestic private banking business isn't
currently positioned to compete in scale without significant
investment or acquisition," Credit Suisse said last month, as part
of an announcement regarding its strategy changes.
Other shifts under way at the bank include cutting the amount of
capital used by Credit Suisse's investment bank, and a new effort
to bolster the bank's presence in the domestic Swiss market.
Alongside his strategic plans unveiled last month, Mr. Thiam
announced a series of changes to the bank's executive board,
including the departure of Mr. Vasan's boss Rob Shafir as co-head
of private banking and wealth management. Mr. Shafir continues to
serve as chairman of the Americas for Credit Suisse, which offers
investment banking and asset-management services in the region.
Mr. Shafir's counterpart, former co-head of private banking
Hans-Ulrich Meister, also left the bank's executive board.
Credit Suisse is also raising a significant amount of new
capital to support its efforts. On Thursday, the bank will hold a
shareholder meeting in Switzerland, to stage votes on management's
plans to raise roughly 6 billion Swiss francs ($6 billion) in fresh
capital via a private placement to investors and a rights offering
to existing shareholders.
--Jenny Strasburg contributed to this article
Write to John Letzing at john.letzing@wsj.com
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 16, 2015 12:10 ET (17:10 GMT)
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