By John Letzing
ZURICH--The task awaiting Tidjane Thiam when he takes over from
Brady Dougan as the new chief executive at Credit Suisse Group AG
is clear: how to pull the Swiss bank out of a post-financial crisis
rut.
The Zurich-based bank's share price has stagnated in recent
years. Management has made only piecemeal cuts to its investment
bank. And a reboot of the core private banking business is under
way after a number of scandals.
The bank also faces a recent abrupt rise in the value of the
Swiss franc that eats into profits generated abroad and looming new
regulations that could make it tougher to generate a decent
return.
Mr. Thiam, currently CEO of U.K. insurer Prudential PLC, will
have to meet all those challenges without any experience running a
bank, much less a global one.
"It's an interesting CV for someone taking over a large
international bank, having never worked at one," said Vontobel
analyst Andreas Venditti.
Credit Suisse said on Tuesday Mr. Dougan will step aside in
June, capping an eight-year tenure that saw him shepherd the bank
safely through the financial crisis. But Mr. Dougan also oversaw
the bank as it addressed questions about its role in helping
Americans evade taxes, leading to a $2.6 billion settlement and a
guilty plea for the bank.
The Swiss bank's board made the decision to replace Mr. Dougan
with Mr. Thiam more than two months ago, but managed to keep the
striking move under wraps, according to a person familiar with the
matter. Board members agreed that despite Mr. Thiam having no
track-record in banking, his extensive international experience and
contacts, and his successful tenure at Prudential, made him a solid
choice.
Investors welcomed news of the transition, trading Credit Suisse
shares up 7.5% on Tuesday morning.
Mr. Thiam, a 52-year-old born in the Ivory Coast, studied in
France. In addition to French and English, he also speaks
German-the local language in Zurich.
While that might help ingratiate Mr. Thiam with locals in
Switzerland, he brings a starkly unique résumé to the job. In the
1990s, he became a government official in his home country, before
having to flee due to a 1999 coup. He then rejoined his former
employer, consultancy McKinsey & Co., and later moved on to
insurer Aviva PLC, before taking the role of chief financial
officer and then CEO at Prudential.
Mr. Thiam is somewhat unique as a former consultant taking over
the top job at a global bank without banking experience. Morgan
Stanley CEO James Gorman worked as a McKinsey consultant, before
joining Merrill Lynch in an executive role, and then moving on to
Morgan Stanley.
Mr. Thiam may bring a taste for bold deal-making to his new
job.
While at Prudential in 2010, he made an eye-popping bid to buy
AIA Group Ltd., the Asian unit of American International Group
Inc., for roughly $36 billion. Prudential shareholders fought the
deal, and Mr. Thiam was forced to withdraw it.
Al Alevizakos, an analyst with Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, said
an appetite for acquisitions might help Credit Suisse bolster its
private banking business. Mr. Thiam's appointment is also a sign
that Credit Suisse will make more significant cuts to its
relatively high-risk investment banking presence, he said.
"I'd be surprised now if they didn't put the knife into the
bone," Mr. Alevizakos said.
Pressure to shrink the investment bank comes as Swiss officials
are expected to implement new, tougher capital requirements to
better protect the country's broader economy. Credit Suisse shares
have risen more than 5% over the past three years, while UBS, its
neighbor, is up nearly 40% over the same period.
Credit Suisse has been unable to consistently rely on its
private banking business to prop up its profitability. The lender's
U.S. private banking unit has struggled in recent years, and it has
had to streamline the global business by exiting markets such as
Germany.
The stronger Swiss franc, which was abruptly allowed to gain
value thanks to a January decision by the Swiss National Bank, is
also crimping profits. Like other Swiss banks, Credit Suisse
reports the bulk of its costs and earnings in francs, but derives
much of its income in now-weaker dollars and euros. That income now
buys fewer francs.
Last month, Credit Suisse said it would cut hundreds of millions
of francs in costs, in a bid to grapple with the strong
currency.
Mr. Dougan, who has maintained close ties to the U.S. throughout
his tenure and never said more than a few words in German in
public, was often perceived as an outsider in Switzerland. Many in
the Alpine country see Credit Suisse, which was founded in 1856 to
help foster Switzerland's industrial development, as a national
treasure.
Now, Mr. Thiam's appointment is likely to further solidify the
bank's international image. As of the end of 2013, only 16% of its
institutional investors were located in Switzerland, while nearly
half were in the U.S. He has worked in New York, Paris and London,
and has led Prudential's aggressive expansion into emerging
markets, especially in Asia.
His departure deals a significant blow to Prudential, which owns
Jackson National Life Insurance Co. in the U.S. Prudential's share
price fell 2.5% Tuesday morning. Mr. Thiam, speaking on a
conference call to discuss Prudential's full-year earnings Tuesday
morning, declined to comment on his new appointment. Referring to
his time at Prudential, he said the job of a CEO is to build strong
teams and deliver consistent results.
A former colleague from McKinsey & Co. said he always
displayed "burning ambition mixed with deadly charm."
In an interview with BBC Radio in 2012, Mr. Thiam discussed his
fondness for West African music and picked out Bob Marley's
Redemption Song as one of his favorite pieces of music. Speaking
about his experience after a coup in his home country, Mr. Thiam
said, "If you have been in a situation where you have nothing,
there is nothing much you are afraid of."
Write to John Letzing at john.letzing@wsj.com
Anuj Gangahar
contributed to this article.
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