CS’ major shareholder, Harris Associates, supports the restructuring plans the major Swiss bank presented on Thursday. In a statement to the Reuters news agency, the American investment firm wrote that it welcomed Credit Suisse’s “aggressive approach” to improving the investment bank’s performance and stabilizing the group.
Harris Associates is Credit Suisse’s largest shareholder with a 10.1 percent stake. The ailing big bank announced a capital increase of CHF 4 billion on Thursday. The Saudi National Bank will be embarked as a new and important investor. With an investment of CHF 1.5 billion, it plans to acquire a 9.9 percent stake in the future.
Currently, the other major shareholders are the Qatar state wealth fund, the Qatar Investment Authority, the two US asset managers Blackrock and Dodge & Cox, and the Saudi family Olayan, which each owns about 5 percent.
Cost savings and layoffs
In addition to another big quarterly loss, Credit Suisse announced extensive cost savings and layoffs on Thursday. In addition, CS wants to downsize its high-risk investment bank, business in this area will be outsourced or completely stopped in the future.
Harris investment boss David Herro has repeatedly commented on what happened at the sick bank in the past. In the spring, for example, he defended then-CEO Thomas Gottstein against criticism. The latter has since been replaced by Ulrich Körner. (SDA)