Credit Suisse is also making wild cuts to its EMEA credit team
Credit Suisse is the story right now. Following last week's restructuring announcement, there are cuts in the investment banking division, in FX, in emerging markets and there are also cuts in credit. And some of those credit cuts are coming as a big surprise.
Sources say the Swiss bank's layoffs unexpectedly include Vivek Nahar, the head of high yield sales and one of the team's biggest producers. Those on the exit list are also thought to include Martin Rickard, a senior UK credit salesman; Rob Samuels, a director in credit sales who only joined from MUFG in August; Stephane Suchet, head of investment grade financial sector strategy, who'd been there 17 years; Phil Karuggi, an associate who joined from Apollo last September; Matthew Clarke, a senior figure on the European loans syndication desk, and Alexia Mignen, an associate who came from BofA last April.
The cuts come after the Swiss bank said it will be letting go of 2,700 people before 2023.
Last week's announcement was vague on the future of Credit Suisse's global credit products division, which houses its sales and trading operations. It's now become apparent that this team is moving to CS First Boston, despite CS First Boston ostensibly being a large boutique-style investment bank and global credit being mostly sales and trading. With leveraged finance origination moving into CS First Boston, the new firm evidently thinks it needs its high yield traders close at hand.
However, not everyone in credit is going. At Credit Suisse in London, sources say only around 70% of staff appear to be making the move, with the rest being let go. The survivors include Karen Miles, who was promoted to head of European high yield trading in January 2022, and Julian Gurcel, head of special situations sales, who was promoted to MD in December last year. Miles and Gurcel are understood to work closely together. Gurcel looks like the unexpected high yield sales survivor after Nahar and Geoff Drayson (the former head of leveraged credit sales, who was cut a month or so ago) were swept aside.
The credit cuts follow the torching of the FX sales and trading team. Credit Suisse is likely to remain the story for a while - the bank plans to cut 9,000 jobs altogether and sources say another round of cuts are due before bonuses are paid in 2023.
Staff who are let go will not receive bonuses. Sources say Credit Suisse is only paying two weeks' severance for every year of service.
Have a confidential story, tip, or comment you’d like to share? Contact: sbutcher@efinancialcareers.com in the first instance. Whatsapp/Signal/Telegram also available (Telegram: @SarahButcher)
Bear with us if you leave a comment at the bottom of this article: all our comments are moderated by human beings. Sometimes these humans might be asleep, or away from their desks, so it may take a while for your comment to appear. Eventually it will – unless it’s offensive or libelous (in which case it won’t.)
Photo: eFinancialCareers/Dall-e
