Credit Suisse top earnings tumble

Bosses at Switzerland's second largest bank, Credit Suisse, took in a fraction of their previous earnings in 2008, the bank said on Tuesday.

Incomes for chief executive officer Brady Dougan and chairman Walter Kielholz shrank to about a tenth of what they earned in 2007. They did not receive bonuses.

Dougan received SFr2.86 million ($2.55 million), of which SFr1.25 million was in unrestricted cash and the rest in dividends and pension benefits, according to the bank’s annual report. He earned a total of SFr22.3 million the previous year.

Kielholz’s earnings dropped over 85 per cent to SFr2 million. He will step down as chairman at Credit Suisse’s annual general meeting on April 24 to focus on his new role as chairman of reinsurer Swiss Re but will stand for re-election to the board as a member with no functional duties.

Credit Suisse announced on Tuesday that cash payments to employees dropped by more than 60 per cent in 2008, with the decline more pronounced for senior staff.

“By adopting this approach to compensation in 2008, we believe that we have taken responsible measures to balance the interests of our shareholders and employees,” the bank said in its report, which confirmed that the bank had recorded a net loss of SFr8.2 million in 2008.

Credit Suisse on Tuesday also announced that it had hired Rolf Bögli, formerly with rival UBS, to head its private banking division for Swiss-based clients.

swissinfo with agencies