Wells Fargo signs deal to recruit Credit Suisse's US brokers

[NEW YORK] Credit Suisse Group AG has awarded Wells Fargo & Co the exclusive right to recruit the Swiss bank's brokers who work in the United States, the two companies said on Tuesday.

Although the Credit Suisse brokerage business has become profitable in the last two years, it is too small "to sustainably compete without significant investment or acquisition," the bank told its brokers in an internal memo.

Credit Suisse Private Banking employs about 275 brokers in 13 US offices, while Wells Fargo operates the third-largest brokerage in the United States, with about 15,000 advisers in its bank branches and private client brokerage networks.

The companies did not disclose terms of the arrangement, but said in a news release that Wells Fargo hopes to put as many brokers as it can in its offices by early 2016.

REUTERS