Credit Suisse Group AG, Switzerland’s second-biggest bank, may need to cut bonuses by as much as 60% this year because of losses incurred by a writedown, according to calculations made by Schweiz am Sonntag.
Chief executive officer Tidjane Thiam wants to substantially write down assets following the acquisition of investment bank Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette in 2000. Impairment charges on $6.3 billion (6.3 billion francs) in legacy assets could lead to an annual loss of 2.6 billion francs to 2.8 billion francs, Bloomberg reported.
The bank may thus need to slash bankers’ bonuses by as much as 60%, in accordance with rules set by the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority, or Finma, according to the newspaper. The supervisor requires financial institutions to cut bonuses in case of financial loss.
Chief financial officer David Mathers said in October he expects a substantial impairment charge in the fourth quarter in relation to the company’s goodwill.
The bank reported third-quarter profit that missed analyst estimates because of a loss in the investment bank and a bigger-than-expected drop in private banking and wealth management.
