Credit Suisse

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Credit Suisse
Type	Holding company
Founded	1856
Headquarters	Zürich, Switzerland
Key people	Oswald Grubel (Group CEO), Brady Dougan (CEO of Investment Banking & Succeeding Group CEO)
Industry	Financial services
Revenue	CHF 38.603 billion
Net income	CHF 11.327 billion
Employees	44,871 (as of 2005)
Slogan	Thinking new perspectives.
Website	http://www.credit-suisse.com

The Credit Suisse Group (SWX:CSGN, NYSE: CS) is a financial services company, headquartered in Zürich, Switzerland. It is the second-largest Swiss bank, behind UBS AG. Credit Suisse was founded in 1856 under the name Schweizerische Kreditanstalt (SKA, Swiss Credit Institution). The bank is organized into three divisions, Investment Banking, Private Banking, and Asset Management.

In 1940, it opened its first branch outside of Switzerland, in New York City. In 1988, it gained a controlling stake in The First Boston Corporation, hence the long-time name of its investment banking unit Credit Suisse First Boston. In 1993, Credit Suisse Group bought Schweizerische Volksbank (People's Bank of Switzerland). In 1996 the two retail banks were merged and renamed Credit Suisse. In 2000, it acquired the investment bank Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette (DLJ) and, with it, an e-commerce software portfolio, including DLJ Direct, that it later sold to the Bank of Montreal.

Contents 1 Structure 1.1 Credit Suisse 1.2 Credit Suisse First Boston (Renamed Credit Suisse, Investment Banking Division) 1.3 Asset Management 2 Units 3 History 3.1 Mergers & Acquisitions 4 Criticism 5 Quick facts 6 See also 6.1 Competitors 7 External links 7.1 Company sites 7.2 Company data 7.3 References

[edit] Structure

The Credit Suisse Group is structured in three divisions, Investment Banking, Private Banking, and Asset Management. On January 16, 2006, Credit Suisse First Boston, now the Investment Banking division, re-branded, becoming simply Credit Suisse.

[edit] Credit Suisse

The Credit Suisse business unit is a leading provider of comprehensive financial services in Europe and other selected markets. Credit Suisse offers investment products, private banking and financial advisory services for private and corporate clients.

• Private Banking - Private Banking is one of the world’s largest private banking organizations with branches in Switzerland and numerous international markets. Private Banking specializes in providing personal investment counseling and professional asset management to affluent and high-net-worth individuals.

• Corporate & Retail Banking - In Corporate & Retail Banking, Credit Suisse occupies a leading position in the Swiss market. It provides a wide range of high-quality banking services for private and corporate clients in Switzerland. In addition, it offers clients user-friendly and innovative online banking services.

• Financial Institutions - Expert to expert banking. Professional advice and tailor-made solutions for banks and financial institutions all around the world.

[edit] Credit Suisse First Boston (Renamed Credit Suisse, Investment Banking Division)

Credit Suisse First Boston (Renamed Credit Suisse) is active in investment banking, capital markets and financial services, ranking near the top tier in in many business segments.

• Institutional Securities - Securities serves the broad needs of institutional clients with expertise in Equities, Fixed Income, Prime Services and Research. Investment Banking serves corporate clients' needs through Mergers and Acquisitions, Equity Capital Markets, Debt Capital Markets, Private Placements and Leveraged Finance services.

[edit] Asset Management

In its asset management business, Credit Suisse offers products across the full spectrum of investment classes, ranging from equities, fixed income and multiple-asset class products, to alternative investments such as real estate, hedge funds, private equity and volatility management. Credit Suisse’s asset management business manages portfolios, mutual funds, and other investment vehicles for a broad spectrum of clients ranging from governments, institutions and corporations to private individuals. With offices focused on asset management in 18 countries, Credit Suisse’s asset management business is operated as a globally integrated network to deliver the bank’s best investment ideas and capabilities to clients around the globe.

Winterthur was divested from Credit Suisse on June 14, 2006. AXA acquired the leading Swiss insurance company from Credit Suisse Group for about 8 billion Euros.

(See [1])

[edit] Units

The company has three operating units as of 2004.

• Credit Suisse, private bank
• Credit Suisse First Boston, investment bank (renamed Credit Suisse 1/16/2006)
• Credit Suisse Asset Management, asset management.

[edit] History

• 1856 - Credit Suisse founded
• 1905 - First branch (in Basel)
• 1940 - First branch outside Switzerland (in New York)
• 1978 - Start of co-operation with The First Boston Corporation
• 1988 - Controlling stake in The First Boston Corporation, which is renamed CS First Boston
• 1989 - CS Holding became parent company of the Group
• 1990 - Acquisition of Bank Leu
• 1993 - Acquisition of Swiss Volksbank
• 1994 - Strategic alliance with Swiss Re
• 1995 - Strategic alliance with Winterthur Group
• 1996 - CS Holding becomes Credit Suisse Group; investment banking business named Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB)
• 1997 - Merger with Winterthur Group
• 2000 - Acquisition of Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette (DLJ)
• 2001 - Sponsorship for the Sauber Petronas Team (now BMW Sauber F1 Team)
• 2002 - Streamlining of the Group's organizational structure into two business units: Credit Suisse Financial Services and Credit Suisse First Boston
• 2004 - Focussing the Group's organizational structure on three business units:Credit Suisse, Credit Suisse First Boston and Winterthur
• 2006 - Credit Suisse divests Winterthur to AXA; First Boston and CSFB names dropped

(See [2])

[edit] Mergers & Acquisitions

CSFB USA is a wholly owned subsidiary of Credit Suisse First Boston Inc., which is, in turn, a wholly owned subsidiary of CS. CS is a wholly owned subsidiary of CSG. CSFB USA was created through the merger with DLJ, which was closed on Nov. 3, 2000. CSFB LLC, CSFB's principal U.S. registered broker-dealer subsidiary, became a subsidiary of DLJ, and DLJ changed its name to CSFB USA.

Prior to the DLJ Merger, the Credit Suisse Group (CS) purchased First Boston in 1988 creating CS First Boston. The Firms bulge bracket status came after the merger with Donaldson, Lufkin, & Jenrette (DLJ).

(See [3])

[edit] Criticism

In 2007, Credit Suisse was criticised for coordinating the listing of the Malaysian logging corporation Samling at the Hong Kong stock exchange. Environmentalists accuse Samling of rainforest destruction and illegal logging. Credit Suisse argues that it has raised the issue with Samling.^[1][2]

[edit] Quick facts

• Frank Quattrone was poached from Deutsche Bank and helped CS jump to the top of the tech and Internet advisory league tables in the late '90s.
• CS was ranked #2 in the total volume of high-yield bond issuance and #1 in high-yield transactions in 2004, it also held the #3 position in global IPO underwriting in 2004.
• CS was awarded the Best Foreign Investment Bank in Indonesia in 2005.
• Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB) and Morgan Stanley were principal underwriters of the 2004 Google IPO.
• First Boston along with Salomon Brothers were the original creators of the collateralized mortgage obligation, it was invented in June 1983. Along with junk bonds, the CMO is considered one of the most important financial innovation of the 1980s.
• Winterthur Group was divested to AXA, the French insurance company for approximately $10B on July 14th, 2006.
• The firm's High Yield/Distress Trading Desk is consistently ranked the best group on Wall Street for both bonds and bank debt. The Leverage Finance division's strength originates from the acquisition of DLJ

[edit] See also

• European Financial Services Roundtable

[edit] Competitors

• ABN AMRO
• Bear Stearns
• Banc of America Securities
• Citigroup
• Deutsche Bank
• Goldman Sachs
• JPMorganChase
• Lehman Brothers
• Merrill Lynch
• Morgan Stanley
• UBS

[edit] External links

[edit] Company sites

• Official site
• Company timeline

[edit] Company data

• Yahoo! - Credit Suisse Group Company Profile
• Credit Suisse stock quote & chart at Gstock
• Timeline of events

[edit] References

1. ^ Bruno Manser Fonds: Rainforest NGOs launch campaign against Samling stock exchange listing
2. ^ Protest against the Samling involvement (in German)