Credit Suisse eyes US$380 million of awards for top staff
CREDIT Suisse Group plans to grant its top executives US$380 million of awards, which will pay out if its restructuring succeeds, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The Swiss lender’s board has devised the long-term incentive tied to specific financial targets for the top 1 per cent of staff, or around 500 senior managers, the person said, asking not to be identified discussing internal matters.
It marks the second straight year Credit Suisse aims to incentivise top staff with a long-term award to lessen the pain of annual bonus cuts. A year ago, it granted top staff 497 million francs (S$716 million) in one-time share awards tied to strategic goals over a three-year period.
The firm is already cutting its overall bonus pool for 2022 by as much as 50 per cent after a year in which it was forced to raise capital, Bloomberg News has reported. At the same time the bank’s leadership is offering some senior staff upfront cash payments to incentivise them to stay and implement the sweeping overhaul announced in October.
The shake-up at Credit Suisse is meant to refocus the lender on wealth management and bread-and-butter Swiss banking. The complex restructuring began by raising 4 billion francs in a capital increase backed by Saudi National Bank and will involve slashing the workforce by 17 per cent and breaking up the investment banking unit.
The so-called transformational award would need to be approved by shareholders at the bank’s annual meeting in April, according to the Financial Times, which first reported the proposal on Wednesday. Credit Suisse has contacted shareholders ahead of the meeting to ask if they will support the award.
In October, the bank laid out 2025 targets of a 6 per cent return on tangible equity and reducing the firm’s cost base to about 14.5 billion francs. The new award would be tied to achieving or coming close to those goals, the newspaper reported. BLOOMBERG
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