Credit Suisse's (CS) New Swiss Wing Commences Operations

Credit Suisse (SIX:CSGN) Group AG’s (TO:CS) new Swiss legal entity, Credit Suisse (Schweiz) AG, commenced operating independently on Sunday, as the bank remains focused on the entity’s partial initial public offering next year. The new entity, with its own banking license, has 1,500 employees and comprises the universal bank business for Swiss customers.

The latest move also comes in line with the Swiss banking giant’s resolvability in pursuant to the regulatory requirements laid under the Swiss ‘too-big-to-fail’ regime.

CEO of Credit Suisse, Tidjane Thiam mentioned in the release, “Today’s launch of operations of Credit Suisse (Schweiz) AG is an important milestone in the implementation of our group strategy. The creation of Credit Suisse (Schweiz) AG is not only about the implementation of new regulatory requirements but also allows our Swiss business to build on the positive development over the past few quarters and gain further market shares in our crucially important home market.”

Credit Suisse has been under investors’ pressure to reduce operations in the capital-intensive investment banking business and deploy more resources in wealth management. Thiam, who joined Credit Suisse last July, succeeding Brady Dougan, intends to grow the bank’s wealth management services focused on the world’s wealthy, as part of the company’s strategy to boost profitability.

The planned partial (20–30%) initial public offering of Credit Suisse (Schweiz) is expected to take place in the second half of 2017, subject to market conditions. Notably, the Swiss banking giant intends to raise around CHF4 billion from the listing.

Currently, Credit Suisse carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).

Stocks to Consider

Societe Generale (PA:SOGN) Group (OTC:SCGLY) sports a Zacks Rank#1 (Strong Buy). You can see he complete list of today’s Zacks #1Rank stocks here. The company has long-term expected EPS (earnings per share) growth rate of 5.2%.

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. (NYSE:BBVA) carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) and has long-term expected EPS growth rate of 17.9%

Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. (OTC:ANZBY) , also a Zacks Rank #2 stock, has long-term expected EPS growth rate of10.5%.

The Best Place to Start Your Stock Search

Today, you are invited to download the full list of 220 Zacks Rank #1 "Strong Buy" stocks – absolutely free of charge. Since 1988, Zacks Rank #1 stocks have nearly tripled the market, with average gains of +26% per year. Plus, you can access the list of portfolio-killing Zacks Rank #5 "Strong Sells" and other private research. See these stocks free >>