Credit Suisse wealth staff told to prep for management roles

A Credit Suisse spokeswoman declined to comment.

The memo is rare piece of good news for Credit Suisse employees, many of whom are preparing to lose their jobs in the wake of the lender’s rescue, particularly in the investment bank. Wealth bankers have been one notable exception, with UBS trying to retain many of them along with the client relationships they oversee, particularly in Asia.

UBS Chief Executive Officer Sergio Ermotti said last month that employees will soon get more clarity on reporting lines, after the Swiss lender made several key appointments already. The lender will clarify the responsibilities of 1,200 to 1,500 employees by mid-July, with the rest following over the next two months.

The top appointments already display UBS’s dominance. The executive board contains only one Credit Suisse holdover, Ulrich Koerner, who remains CEO of the acquired bank. In the key wealth management unit, just five of the more than two dozen leadership appointments came from Credit Suisse.

Bankers, traders and support staff in Credit Suisse’s investment bank in London, New York, and in some parts of Asia are expected to bear the brunt of the cuts, with almost all activities at risk. Overall, UBS is planning to cut more than half of Credit Suisse’s 45,000-strong workforce, with the first round expected by the end of July and two more rounds tentatively planned for September and October, people familiar with the matter said last week.

In Asia, UBS plans to retain a few hundred Credit Suisse private bankers in the Asia Pacific region, bringing its total to more than 1,200 in one of the few areas spared from deep cuts, Bloomberg reported last month.