Credit Suisse to offer senior bankers cash bonus upfront to ‘reward loyalty’ and stem talent outflow
Credit Suisse is considering offering its senior executives upfront bonuses as it seeks to incentivise its top performing staff to stay at the bank.
An internal memo seen by CityAM said that managing directors and directors “in most locations” will be awarded the cash component of their variable compensation upfront.
The memo said upfront payment allows the bank “to recognise the contribution of its senior leaders and to reward loyalty”.
Those in line for the early cash bonus, however, would be required to repay some or all of the bonus if they leave the bank within three years.
While the bank admitted that the “compensation pool will be lower than in previous years” the scheme is an attempt to “reward individual and collective performance”, the memo said.
Credit Suisse declined to comment.
Credit Suisse’s own chair Axel Lehmann yesterday said that 2022 had been a “horrifying” year for the bank and that its bonus pool “won’t look great”, following reports that the bank was considering cutting its bonus pool by 50 per cent.
The troubled lender undergoing severe cost-cutting measures after it swung to a pre-tax loss of CHF1.9bn (£1.7bn) in the nine months to September 2022, compared to a profit of CHF1.1bn the previous year.
At the time, it also warned it would need to cut 9,000 jobs by 2025.
As a result of its cost-cutting measures, the embattled lender is reportedly struggling to hold on to some of its top talent.
It is set to report a loss of up to CHF1.5bn for the last three months of 2022 after reporting “substantial industry-wide slowdown” in capital markets.
Following rumours about its potential collapse in October, the firm sought a cash injection of £3.5bn from investors via a share sale backed by the Saudi National Bank.