Credit Suisse salespeople & traders fear the cull starts next week
Now that UBS has let it be known that it doesn't want 50% of people at Credit Suisse, the sword of Damocles is very clearly positioned above Credit Suisse people's heads. In the case of salespeople and traders at the Swiss bank, the fear is that it will fall as soon as next Monday.
"The rumour here is that salespeople and traders are being told next week," says one senior Credit Suisse insider. "Whether it will be a UBS-style 'cards don't work on the door', or, 'This is what we plan to do,' or just the start of a statutory consultation period isn't yet clear."
UBS and Credit Suisse declined to comment on the timing of the markets cull, but Bloomberg reported yesterday that the cuts will come in three waves: at the end of July, September and in October. UBS is expected to cut around 23,000 people from Credit Suisse over that time period. The last time UBS went through a big round of cuts, removing 10,000 people and gutting its fixed income team in 2012, affected individuals discovered their fates when their door passes wouldn't work.
Within Credit Suisse's markets division, research professionals appear to be more confident than the rest that they will be retained. Various researchers in London have, however, left already: Jakob Bluestone, the former head of European telecoms research is understood to have quit for Exane; Amy Wong, the head of EMEA energy research who only joined Credit Suisse in 2021 after a decade at UBS, is said to have resigned.
In credit trading, most of Credit Suisse's best people have already decamped to Deutsche Bank. In equities, Yannis Bostantzoglou, a managing director in equity sales trading, is understood to be off to JPMorgan.
In investment banking, Credit Suisse professionals are more confident that their execution will be stayed until the end of July. One managing director said UBS has already selected the people it wants to keep: "It's more about individuals than teams. They are picking who they want."
Photo by Emmeline T. on Unsplash
Have a confidential story, tip, or comment you’d like to share? Contact: +44 7537 182250 (SMS, Whatsapp or voicemail). Telegram: @SarahButcher. Or, email editortips@efinancialcareers.com. Signal also available
Bear with us if you leave a comment at the bottom of this article: all our comments are moderated by human beings. Sometimes these humans might be asleep, or away from their desks, so it may take a while for your comment to appear. Eventually it will – unless it’s offensive or libelous (in which case it won’t.)
