Credit Suisse bankers leave in hundreds each week. Two sources said hundreds of Credit Suisse (CSGN.S) employees depart each week due to uncertainties around the lender’s takeover by competitor UBS (UBSG.S).
One insider said Credit Suisse bankers anxious about their future are choosing safer work at competitors.
Since they could not talk publicly, they declined to be named.
On Wednesday, Swiss publication Blick reported that 150 Credit Suisse employees resigned daily, while one of the two stated they saw 200 a week.
Aftermarket volatility brought the struggling banking close to collapse; UBS agreed on March 19 to take over its smaller Swiss rival as part of a Swiss government bailout.
“Employee attrition has been higher over the last year,” Credit Suisse said in April, adding that it employed slightly over 48,000 full-time employees at the end of the first quarter. In 2022, it had 50,480 full-time employees.
Santander, Spain’s largest bank, hired at least eight Credit Suisse bankers and was targeting more, Bloomberg News reported last month.
UBS is seeking global regulator clearances to finalize the merger by the end of the quarter to provide Credit Suisse clients and workers more stability. Last week, chairman Colm Kelleher said: “very shortly.”
UBS management indicated it would set a high bar for retaining Credit Suisse investment banking workers.
A Zurich banker told Reuters that Credit Suisse’s investment bank was losing the most workers.
UBS wants to close Credit Suisse’s investment bank, which employs 17,000 people, and the Swiss state has guaranteed 9 billion Swiss francs in losses.
One person said they receive a goodbye email from someone across the bank daily. In addition, he said investment bank calls are routinely unanswered.
The person said that the Swiss Finance Ministry ordered Credit Suisse’s senior management to cancel or reduce their 2022 incentive payments, contributing to staff departures.
UBS will shed positions to decrease costs, but the combined bank will employ 120,000 worldwide.
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