Credit Suisse Set to Discuss Strategy Tweaks in Off-Site Meeting

(Bloomberg) --

Credit Suisse Group AG Chief Executive Officer Thomas Gottstein plans to hold discussions over improvements to the bank’s strategy after replacing Tidjane Thiam.

“The focus is on growth opportunities and the culture of the bank,” Barclays Plc analyst Amit Goel said following a sell-side analyst meeting with the Swiss bank’s executives. “They said they will listen to the various stakeholders and have an open discussion.”

Gottstein and Chief Financial Officer David Mathers are considering fine-tuning the existing plan rather than conducting a full strategic review, Goel said in a note. They will hold an off site discussion in the coming months on topics including resuming offshore -- and some onshore -- business with U.S. clients from Switzerland. They may also revisit the current split of investment-banking operations into three parts, he said.

Credit Suisse is seeking to draw a line under a spying scandal that has marred a painful but largely successful restructuring under Thiam. Gottstein takes over a business that’s better capitalized, more profitable and less risky, but the turmoil that ended with Thiam’s ouster raised questions about the culture at the top and led to the departure of top executives.

Gottstein last week confirmed the financial targets that the bank updated in December and said he plans to reach out to shareholders and regulators after the scandal.

Credit Suisse executives meet every year in early summer to
discuss strategy. A representative of the bank declined to
comment on Goel’s note.

Gottstein and Mathers “highlighted that the whole executive board was involved in putting together the current strategy, believe in it and continue to be supportive of it,” Goel wrote.

When asked about his management style, Gottstein said that he may be a bit more inclusive than the previous team, according to the analyst.

To contact the reporter on this story: Patrick Winters in Zurich at pwinters3@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Dale Crofts at dcrofts@bloomberg.net, Ross Larsen, Jan Dahinten

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.