Swiss banking group Credit Suisse is reportedly planning to double its employee strength in China over the next five years.
Plans for China
Credit Asia CEO Helman Sitohang said that the bank eyes a 100% revenue surge in China.
Commenting on its plan for the Asia Pacific region, Sitohang told Bloomberg: “China is our strongest focus when it comes to headcount, and infrastructure growth compared to any country in the world.
“The worst of Covid’s impact on the region’s business activity is behind us.”
The bank will prioritise the expansion of advisory and investment banking services for China’s wealthy.
In two years’ time, the bank wants Asia to account for up 25% of the group revenue, the report noted citing people familiar with the issue. The current figure is 17.5%, said the report.
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By GlobalDataAdditionally, Credit Suisse has started evaluating risk controls after being hit by loan losses in Asia.
The loan losses were largely linked to Luckin Coffee in China, which collapsed as the result of an accounting scandal.
Credit Suisse was among the underwriters of the coffee chain’s Nasdaq IPO.
Credit Suisse’s recent developments in China
China has been Credit Suisse’s focus for a long time now.
This April, Credit Suisse received the go-ahead from the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) to raise its stake in its China securities joint venture (JV) to 51% from 33.3%.
In June this year, the bank completed the deal and also appointed Janice Hu as the chairwoman of the JV, Credit Suisse Founder Securities (CSFS).
The bank now reportedly eyes a 100% stake in the China securities JV.
Tim Tu was recently named as the CEO of the JV. Daniel Qiu was appointed as the head of Investment Banking & Capital Markets (IBCM) for the JV.
At the end of 2019, the securities JV had employee headcount of 154.
The bank provides financing, trading, wealth and asset management services in mainland China.
It let go of around 30 bankers at the JV and now plans to hire fresh talent, the report said.
Last year, Credit Suisse rival UBS too unveiled plans to double the headcount at its investment banking JV in China.
Meanwhile, US-based investment bank Goldman Sachs also reportedly plans to double its staff headcount in China to 600.