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Credit Suisse on the lookout for private banks, says top director
CREDIT Suisse is actively seeking to make acquisitions in private banking, one of the bank’s senior directors said yesterday.
Walter Berchtold, chief executive of Credit Suisse’s private banking business, said at an industry event that the firm was “clearly ready to acquire”.
Sources close to the Swiss bank said any purchase was likely to be a “bolt-on” acquisition, similar to the deal to buy Brazilian asset manager Hedging Griffo in 2006.
Despite its appetite for acquisitions, Credit Suisse is understood to have dropped out of the race to acquire Dutch group ING’s private banking units in Asia and Switzerland, which are up for sale as the lender looks to raise funds to repay state aid.