- Bankers, traders, and other employees are departing Credit Suisse in droves in recent months.
- People are defecting to firms like Jefferies, JPMorgan, Citigroup, and Bank of America.
- Credit Suisse has been rocked this year by the implosions of Greensill and Archegos.
- See more stories on Insider’s business page.
Nearly 50 senior employees have parted ways with Credit Suisse during recent months, according to hiring announcements by other banks, a review of reported exits, and people familiar with the moves.
The Swiss bank has been embroiled in a string of problems over the last two years, starting with a 2019 spying scandal involving its then-chief operating officer keeping tabs on rival UBS, which was followed by the resignation of its CEO four months later. Credit Suisse has also taken hits when accounting scandals rocked then-clients Luckin Coffee and Wirecard, and when it took a $450 million writedown on its stake in hedge fund York Capital.
The bank in February froze $10 billion of supply-chain finance funds linked to Greensill Capital over valuation concerns. The ordeal led the bank to reactivate a special crisis committee to oversee issues involving the now-insolvent lender, Bloomberg reported.
And lately, Credit Suisse has been dealing with the fallout from the implosion of Archegos Capital Management, a family-office client founded by hedge-fund billionaire Bill Hwang that had $8 billion in assets decimated when massive, concentrated bets held in swaps positions moved against it.
Together, the setbacks have cost the firm billions of dollars in losses and have also been accompanied by an exodus of senior bankers and other workers at Credit Suisse. Immediately after the Archegos scandal, top leaders like investment-bank chief Brian Chin and chief risk officer Laura Werner stepped down, along with prime brokerage co-heads John Dabbs and Ryan Nelson.
Managing directors on a March call with CEO Thomas Gottstein and the now-departed Chin questioned the executives about the Archegos mess, which blew a multibillion-dollar hole in the bank’s balance sheet, in tones that ranged from pointed to aggressive, Insider previously reported. How could this have happened? Why was the bank so concentrated in one client? Why wasn’t it hedged? Who knew what, and when did they know it?
Someone on the March call asked Gottstein and Chin how the Archegos ordeal would affect their bonuses, an already-sore spot at the firm after Credit Suisse rewrote the structure for cash payouts in investment banking and capital markets last year. The executives responded to the question with a nonanswer — calling for solidarity across business lines — that eroded their credibility, a person on the call previously told Insider.
Since early April, at least 44 names have emerged of senior personnel who have recently parted ways with or are set to depart Credit Suisse. Many have headed to rival banks including JPMorgan, Jefferies, Bank of America, Citigroup, and Barclays.
The roles represent a wide range of divisions at the bank and did not all have direct ties to the Archegos stumble and related fallout. Recruiting for and transitioning to new jobs can also take months, so the dates that moves were reported or announced do not necessarily indicate when a decision to leave was made. And to be sure, there’s always movement between firms, particularly early in the year after bonuses have hit employees’ bank accounts.
There have been moves in the other direction, too. Insider reported on June 10 that Credit Suisse has hired one of HSBC’s top credit-trading execs.
Credit Suisse declined to comment to Insider for this story.
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Leadership, compliance, operations
- Brian Chin, who was the investment-bank chief, and Laura Werner, chief risk officer, stepped down in the immediate wake of the Archegos scandal, Bloomberg reported April 5. The leadership shakeup also saw the departures of Paul Galietto, head of equities sales and trading; Parshu Shah, head of prime services risk; Ryan Atkinson, head of credit risk; Ilana Ash, head of counterparty credit risk management for IB; and Manish Mehta, head of counterparty hedge fund risk.
- Marla Moskowitz-Hesse, a former managing director of governance, reporting, and strategic implementation for global markets compliance, joined Wells Fargo as head of compliance program strategy, planning, and governance on April 28, Wells Fargo confirmed to Insider. In her new role, she will lead the team overseeing “Compliance program strategy and execution, compliance regulatory deliverables, as well as centralized management of compliance staffing, financials and COO support,” a Wells Fargo spokesperson said.
- Jose Olympio Pereira, CEO of Credit Suisse Brazil, is leaving the bank at the end of 2021 after more than 17 years, Bloomberg reported May 26.
- Falguni Desai, Credit Suisse’s former equities IT head of strategy, has joined Microsoft as a digital strategy advisor, efinancialcareers reported June 4 and according to her LinkedIn page.
Investment banking, capital markets
- Andrew Conway and Charles Hadid have departed for Bank of America and Morgan Stanley, respectively, Bloomberg reported June 9. Conway was previously a strategic and financial advisor to global consumer product companies at Credit Suisse, while Hadid was a managing director in the bank’s global consumer group focusing on the food and beverage sector. It is unclear what their new roles at their new banks will be. A Bank of America spokesperson confirmed Conway’s hire to Insider.
- Bruno Angles, a former senior managing director in Paris who oversaw the bank’s franchises in France and Belgium, jumped to insurer AG2R La Mondiale, Reuters reported June 1 and according to his LinkedIn page.
- BlackRock hired Jackie Krese to be a managing director and head of US capital markets, a new position, Pensions & Investments reported May 25. A BlackRock spokesperson confirmed the hire to Pensions & Investments. Krese was previously Credit Suisse’s group head of Americas debt capital markets solutions.
- Stephane Gruffat, Credit Suisse’s head of the equity capital markets syndicate, is joining Deutsche Bank to co-lead the bank’s equity capital markets unit for EMEA, Reuters reported May 20. Credit Suisse confirmed Gruffat’s departure to Reuters.
- Stephanie Ruiz, a former managing director in Credit Suisse’s global industrial investment-banking group, has departed the firm for “other opportunities,” Bloomberg reported May 18. According to her LinkedIn page, she joined JPMorgan as a managing director for tech investment banking in June.
- Karl Rozman, a former managing director in Sydney, will be the new leader of Australian natural resources sector coverage at Bank of America, Bloomberg reported May 18. A Bank of America spokesperson confirmed Rozman’s hire.
- Simon Auerbach, who was a managing director focused on business and information services, is leaving the firm for Lazard, Bloomberg reported May 18. Lazard did not respond to a request for comment from Insider.
- Leo Reif, the former head of EMEA healthcare and a former managing director in the global healthcare and UK and South Africa groups, is moving to Jefferies, the Wall Street Journal reported May 17. Jefferies did not respond to a request for comment from Insider.
- Chris Eby, a managing director and the head of asset and wealth management for investment banking in the Americas, is moving to Goldman Sachs, the Wall Street Journal reported May 17 and a source familiar with the matter confirmed to Insider.
- Nick Daly, a managing director in the financial institutions group, is moving to Bank of America, the Wall Street Journal reported May 17. A Bank of America spokesperson confirmed Daly’s hire.
- Jason Wortendyke, the former global co-head for mobility and services investment banking and co-head of the Chicago office, is moving to Citigroup to be the global co-head of diversified industrials and co-head the Chicago office, the Wall Street Journal reported May 17. A Citigroup spokesperson confirmed Wortendyke’s hire to Bloomberg May 18.
- Several Credit Suisse bankers are heading to Barclays, the Wall Street Journal reported May 17 and a source familiar with the matter confirmed to Insider. Hires include former head of media and telecommunications M&A Ihsan Essaid, who will co-head Americas M&A; and Tim Devine, who will head FIG M&A.
- In addition to Essaid and Devine, David MacGown, a previous managing director in Credit Suisse’s financial institutions investment banking group; and Kamal Ahmed, a former managing director in tech investment banking, will also join Barclays. The Wall Street Journal reported Ahmed’s move on May 17 and a source familiar with the matter confirmed to Insider. Barclays announced MacGown’s hire on May 12.
- A group of Credit Suisse bankers defected to Jefferies in late May and early June, according to reporting in Reuters and finews. Armando Rubio-Alvarez, former head of Credit Suisse’s EMEA FIG team, will take on Jefferies’ European responsibilities when he joins the firm this summer, Reuters said. Former directors Henry Kong and Fitzgerald Woolcott, former managing director Carlos Marque, and Alejandro Przygoda, Credit Suisse’s former global FIG head, are also joining Jefferies, finews said. Kong, Woolcott, Marque, and Przygoda’s new roles at the firm are unclear.
- Christian Bradeen, an industrials banker, is moving to Perella Weinberg Partners, according to a May 12 press release from Perella. He’ll join as partner June 30.
- M&A banker Kierin Deeming is joining JPMorgan to lead M&A advisory for Australia and New Zealand, Financial Review reported May 7. JPMorgan did not respond to a request for comment from Insider.
Trading, prime brokerage
- Prime brokerage co-heads John Dabbs and Ryan Nelson stepped down from their roles on April 19, the Wall Street Journal reported citing an internal memo, and left the bank in mid-May after a transition period.
- Credit trader Michael Lattarulo has resigned from Credit Suisse for a senior trading role at Deutsche Bank where he’ll focus on investment-grade financial institutions, Insider reported June 10.
- HSBC made a group of trader hires, including a lift-out of four Credit Suisse corporate bond traders, Insider reported June 8. The departures include Christopher Bathon, a former managing director who spent 11 years on Credit Suisse’s investment-grade credit desk, as well as traders Christopher Schuville, Mike Malloy, and Marshall Peters. Bathon will be HSBC’s new leader of US high-grade credit trading, Schuville will be the firm’s head of cash industrial trading, and Malloy and Peters will join as senior credit traders.
- HSBC also hired Credit Suisse VP Chris Staudt for its emerging-markets credit desk, Insider reported June 8.
Asset management
- Houlihan Lokey hired Sameer Shamsi to be a managing director and the head of secondaries in the private fund group, the firm announced May 26. Previously, Shamsi led Credit Suisse’s secondary advisory activities in the Americas and was a member of the private funds group’s capital solutions team.
- Christoph Schumacher, who was previously the global head of real estate and a managing director at Credit Suisse Asset Management, has joined Manulife Investment Management to be the global head of real assets and private markets, the firm announced May 17.
Private banking
- Singapore-based Elaine Zhang, who had been at Credit Suisse for 10 years, will join JPMorgan to lead its China private banking business, Bloomberg reported May 18, citing a JPMorgan statement.
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