Credit Suisse's Americas Chairman Robert Shafir Plans to Leave Bank -- 2nd Update

By Jenny Strasburg and John Letzing 

Robert Shafir, Credit Suisse Group AG's chairman of the Americas region who stepped down from the executive board late last year, is planning to leave the Swiss bank.

Mr. Shafir's planned departure will be effective the end of June, according to people familiar with the matter. It hasn't been internally announced. A Credit Suisse spokeswoman confirmed the planned departure.

Mr. Shafir, 57 years old, joined Credit Suisse in August 2007 and was a member of its executive board from then until October last year, when the bank unveiled a restructuring under new Chief Executive Tidjane Thiam.

Mr. Shafir has discussed with former Credit Suisse CEO Brady Dougan the possibility of teaming up with Mr. Dougan in a new Wall Street venture, according to people familiar with the matter. The Wall Street Journal reported last week that Mr. Dougan is developing plans to launch a boutique financial firm that would both advise and invest in companies, citing people familiar with the matter.

Mr. Dougan hasn't committed to the idea, The Journal reported. The potential option of working with Mr. Dougan is just one that Mr. Shafir is considering, the people familiar with the matter said.

Credit Suisse said in its 2015 annual report that Mr. Shafir was the highest-paid executive board member last year, earning 7.9 million Swiss francs ($8.2 million), including a bonus of 6.3 million Swiss francs. The report said his compensation reflected "the support that he provided to establish the new strategy" and his work transferring its U.S. private-banking business to Wells Fargo & Co.

Before Mr. Thiam unveiled his overhaul last October, Mr. Shafir told senior Credit Suisse executives he would be leaving the bank following a transition period, according to people inside the bank familiar with internal discussions at the time.

Mr. Shafir joined Credit Suisse from Lehman Brothers, where he spent 17 years and held senior positions including head of equities.

At Credit Suisse, he was Americas chief executive before the October shake-up, and co-headed the private-banking and wealth-management division that has been broken up under Mr. Thiam. Previously, Mr. Shafir was CEO of the asset-management division from 2008 to 2012.

Other planned senior-level departures recently announced from Credit Suisse's U.S. ranks include global head of asset management Bob Jain and U.S. private-banking head Philip Vasan. Employees see Messrs. Shafir, Jain and Vasan as among the few remaining senior executives close to Mr. Thiam's predecessor, Mr. Dougan, according to people inside the bank.

Write to Jenny Strasburg at [e-mail] and John Letzing at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 14, 2016 11:52 ET (15:52 GMT)

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