Credit Suisse’s David Mathers: ‘Banks need to build scale in fewer markets’

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Credit Suisse’s David Mathers: ‘Banks need to build scale in fewer markets’

After 12 years of near continuous restructuring and capital raising at Credit Suisse, the longest-serving chief financial officer of any G-Sib bank offers a few parting lessons.

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On December 8, Credit Suisse will reveal the take up of its latest rights issue, assuming, that is, that shareholders approve the capital raise central to yet another restructuring of the investment bank at an extraordinary general meeting on November 23.

One important figure will be missing from the EGM though.

David Mathers, chief financial officer from October 2010 until October 2022, was also absent from the announcement of the strategy update at the end of October, where Dixit Joshi took on his traditional job of answering most of the questions.

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David Mathers, Credit Suisse

A dozen years as CFO of a global systemically important bank in near constant turmoil and transition is some stint: four years longer than Tushar Morzaria, who once seemed such a fixture at Barclays.

Mathers joined the Swiss bank 12 years before becoming group CFO, recruited from HSBC by Brady Dougan in 1998 to manage the merger of the old BZW equities business that the Swiss bank had acquired in 1997.

Euromoney sits down with Mathers to gather some reflections and lessons from his years on the front line.


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