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Tidjane Thiam, 52, started work as CEO of Credit Suisse on
Wednesday and investors are optimistic he can bring about a
major change of strategy at the bank, though many also expect
him to tap the market for cash.
"We will need a strong balance sheet that allows us to withstand
adversity, while continuing to invest in the future," Thiam says
in the memo, which was seen by Reuters.
A spokesman confirmed the contents of the memo.
Thiam said Zurich-based Credit Suisse needed to have a strong
capital base and be able to generate its own capital in order to
gain the trust of the market, regulators and customers.
Kepler Cheuvreux analyst Dirk Becker has estimated Credit Suisse
needs an extra 6 billion Swiss francs ($6.4 billion) to bring
core capital levels close to that of cross-town rival UBS <UBSG.VX>,
and at least double that amount for Thiam to pursue any major
strategic move.
Choosing what the bank will do and where it invests its capital
will be a focus in the weeks and months ahead, Thiam said,
adding he would determine the strategy later this year.
It is also the first day for Deutsche Bank's new CEO John Cryan,
who told the German bank's staff in a memo that a strategic
overhaul would be delayed by three months, and to expect tough
reforms as he shakes up a group that he said had become too
diversified and complex.
(Reporting by Robert-Jan Bartunek in Brussels and by Katharina
Bart ande Joshua Franklin in Zurich; Editing by Michael Shields
and Mark Potter)
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