Tidjane Thiam is not leaving Credit Suisse. The Swiss banking boss has made this abundantly clear in recent days with categorical denials that he’s planning to replace Christine Lagarde at the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Nonetheless, Swiss banking website InsideParadePlatz seems to think there was something to the rumours about Thiam leaving.
It claims to have spoken to an (unnamed) Zurich headhunter, who was approached by CS at Christmas with a mandate to line up three candidates to replace Thiam by March. Who those candidates might have been is not clear: unfortunately Standard Chartered and Barclays have already pinched the best options in the form of Bill Winters and Jes Staley.
Thiam’s exit might have been welcomed at Credit Suisse’s investment bank in London. Under the strategy announced in October, he’s planning to make up to 30% of London-based staff redundant, and is thought to be cutting bonuses.
In an interview with Bloomberg at Davos today, Thiam reiterated his partiality to emerging markets, said the fundamentals to the US economy are “promising”, and said (again) that pay in investment banking hasn’t been, “flexible enough on the downside.”
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