David Miller arrives as Credit Suisse faces possible staff shortages
Credit Suisse might be cutting 9,000 people between now and 2025, but the latest whisper is that it might also need to do a spot of recruitment.
The potential hiring need comes on the back of the various departures the bank has suffered in its European high yield sales and trading business.
As we reported here last week, the Swiss bank's London high yield team has now lost all of its analysts, most of its salespeople and two out of five of its traders, with the traders who quit (Jack Patten and his junior Efe Şenoğlu) being among the best performers. Several of the salespeople were let go, but the traders and the analysts seem to have left of their own accords and had new jobs to go to.
It's not clear what Credit Suisse intends for its London credit team. While the high yield desk has been hollowed out, insiders say the investment grade desk remains curiously intact. Globally, the intention is to move the credit business into CS First Boston, the bank that will be run by Michael Klein, but it seems that CS First Boston itself won't be up and running for around two years. For the moment, it seems that the European credit business is being run in a slimmed-down state while the more profitable US business remains mostly intact.
Having despatched Joel Kent, the global head of credit products from New York to London last month to help steady the London credit ship, Credit Suisse insiders say the bank has now stepped things up a level and that David Miller has now arrived in Canary Wharf. Miller is currently the global head of investment banking & capital markets at Credit Suisse, but previously ran the global credit business and is seen a friendly face in feral times. He's expected to preach the virtues of sticking around for the next chapter.
Some don't need persuading to stay. One London Credit Suisse credit professional is understood to have considered leaving for JPMorgan only to change his mind after realizing that this year's bonuses at Credit Suisse might actually not be that bad comparatively, given there are now far fewer people to share them between. It helps that here are still a few people making money at Credit Suisse in London, including Raj Raithatha, the MD on the credit repo desk.
Ultimately, though, the CS First Boston credit business is expected to focus on the bigger US market. The Swiss bank has gaps to fill there too: three managing directors on the high yield trading desk (Dan Brand, Brandon Porter and Ilya Feldman) left for Barclays in the summer along with director Alex Lentz. Sources say they have yet to be replaced.
Credit Suisse declined to comment.
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