Credit Suisse eyes more cost cuts: reports

CREDIT Suisse is considering how it could cut costs further after a dismal performance by the embattled bank in the past quarter, SonntagsZeitung reported, citing senior sources.

“The numbers are catastrophic,” an unnamed senior banker told the newspaper, adding that staff morale is very low.

Managers and the board of directors are now discussing a new, large cost-saving plan, a second executive was quoted in the article published on Sunday (Jul 24).

“The cost structure is too large for the bank’s revenue potential.”

Credit Suisse has previously described 2022 as a “transition” year in which it is trying to turn the page on costly scandals that brought a near-total reshuffle of top management.

Discussions on the cuts are at an advanced stage, the paper said, though it is uncertain whether they will be announced when Credit Suisse reports second-quarter earnings on Wednesday.

A spokesperson for Credit Suisse declined to comment on the newspaper report.

The bank warned in June that it would post a loss for the quarter, its third in a row.

The lender said then that it was aiming to accelerate cost-saving measures introduced as part of its re-organisation last November.

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Analysts expect a reported net loss of 398 million Swiss francs (S$571.2 million) for the quarter, Refinitiv data shows.

Switzerland’s second-biggest bank has been hit by a string of costly scandals and the exit of chairman Antonio Horta-Osorio after he flouted Covid-19 quarantine rules.

Among its woes was a US$5.5 billion loss on the default of US family office Archegos Capital Management and the shuttering of US$10 billion of its supply chain finance funds. REUTERS