Credit Suisse has a new public relations guru after a slew of critical press surrounding its capital cushion and banker pay. It is also taking outside advice on how to mend fences.
The Zurich-based bank said Adam Gishen would take over responsibility for corporate communications as well as his existing role as head of investor relations, effective immediately.
This shifts 60-plus people from the department of Peter Goerke, a member of Credit Suisse's top management who is now only responsible for human resources. It also strengthens a key ally of Chief Executive Tidjane Thiam.
The CEO has come through a torrid few months when the Swiss bank has scrapped a planned partial unit listing in favor of replenishing its capital the old-fashioned way, paid billions to settle a U.S. mortgage scandal, been roasted by shareholders over its pay practices, and rapped over its involvement in the 1MDB scandal.
Influential Spin Doctor
Credit Suisse successfully raised 4 billion Swiss francs last month, laying to rest the persistent question of capital adequacy that had been hanging over the bank since Thiam's entrance nearly two years ago.
Gishen's new investor relations and communications role is a widened version of that of John Murray, an influential City spin doctor and confidante of Thiam's who left the bank for personal reasons earlier this year.
The communications move signals that Thiam acknowledges that the bank made public missteps: the pay scandal had raised the hackles of even the friendliest of City journalists, and drawn international scrutiny.
The head of Credit Suisse's corporate communications department, former UBS veteran Christoph Meier (pictured above), will report to Gishen, who is a senior advisor to – and close confidante of – Thiam. The CEO has also engaged another outside public relations firm to mend fences, finews.com has learned.
Thiam's Trust
Gishen, a former Lehman Brothers investment banker who spent seven years as a partner at M&A boutique Ondra after the financial crisis, has garnered respect as a cool-headed analytic since joining Credit Suisse last year.
His trump card? Gishen, father of four, enjoys the trust of Thiam, who he met through his previous firm's work for British insurer Prudential, then helmed by Thiam.
Thiam, a former consultant and government minister in his native Ivory Coast, has frequently been criticized as shielding himself against dissenting views with an entourage of longtime associates he trusts, including operating chief Pierre Bouee.
Outstripped by UBS
While Credit Suisse insiders concede to finews.com that this is largely true, Thiam's supporters argue that this is because the CEO was preoccupied with a sprawling overhaul, a capital gap and a costly mortgage investigation.
With those issues off the table, Thiam can afford to devote more time to the ambassadorial side of his job that the Swiss job inevitably brings with it. Across the street at UBS, CEO Sergio Ermotti has evolved from an investment banker obsessed with implementing strategy into an eloquent voice for business in Swiss politics.
To wit: Ermotti actually outearned Thiam last year, but suffered very little of the outcry over pay that the Credit Suisse boss did.
