Brady Dougan's worst month puts Credit Suisse dividend at risk

Zurich

FOR Brady Dougan, it's been the worst start to a year since he became chief executive officer of Credit Suisse Group AG in 2007.

A rise in the value of the Swiss franc following the central bank's decision to let the currency trade freely, coupled with investor concern that the bank's balance sheet isn't strong enough and doubts about the CEO's plan for the securities unit, pushed shares down 22 per cent in January, the biggest monthly drop in Mr Dougan's tenure. Credit Suisse is the worst-performing European bank this year outside of Greece.

Mr Dougan, 55, is running out of options. He could follow competitors including UBS Group AG in making additional cut…