CS Credit Suisse Group

   (FROM THE WALL STREET JOURNAL 11/17/15) 
   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 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 have a shareholder meeting in Switzerland to hold 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.

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Jenny Strasburg contributed to this article.

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November 17, 2015 02:47 ET (07:47 GMT)

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