5 ms·

Honestly I don't read much about banks. What's wrong with CS now, and why is everyone in this thread suggesting they're bad actors?

pclmulqdq 4y ago
Credit Suisse has a century-long resume of working with evil people to hide money, from Nazis and genocidal dictators to drug lords. On the other side, their business is fairly weak: they aren't well-known for their trading or investment banking prowess, and the few people they have in that area aren't good. Most of the other banks have adapted to have both wealth management and a sales and trading arm. Credit Suisse only really has wealth management. It turns out there's a really big synergy here: having an investment banking division helps get your wealth management clients unique deals that are usually very profitable. This means that the other banks can essentially out-compete CS, since their clients don't get the same kinds of deals. Combine that with the reputation and there's not much reason to do business with them.
- zabzonk 4y ago
  > they aren't well-known for their trading or investment banking prowess Actually, back in the very late 1990s i worked for Credit Suisse Financial Products in London, which was a spinoff company from CS and did complicated derivatives and such. It was quite well thought of back then - no idea now, or even if it exists. Everyone at CSFP thought the parent bank was a pile of poo.
  - dboreham 4y ago
    With my brother, probably.
  - pclmulqdq 4y ago
    CSFP appears to have been defunct for decades. If you look at BrokerCheck, their license in the US expired in 1999.
- phs318u 4y ago
  > Combine that with the reputation and there's not much reason to do business with them. On the contrary, I think that's EXACTLY why the kinds of clients they have choose to do business with them. If there wasn't already a Credit Suisse serving those types of clients, someone would invent one.
  - yieldcrv 4y ago
    I agree, you don't even have to be a drug lord or the hand of the king How many times has a bank made something inconvenient for you just because of a skittish interpretation of a fraud or money laundering law? Criminal banks don’t make things inconvenient for you. Get a criminal bank, the settlements are advertisement.
  - pclmulqdq 4y ago
    HSBC is their competition for that niche, and has a good investment banking arm, too.

pclmulqdq 4y ago

Credit Suisse has a century-long resume of working with evil people to hide money, from Nazis and genocidal dictators to drug lords. On the other side, their business is fairly weak: they aren't well-known for their trading or investment banking prowess, and the few people they have in that area aren't good. Most of the other banks have adapted to have both wealth management and a sales and trading arm. Credit Suisse only really has wealth management. It turns out there's a really big synergy here: having an investment banking division helps get your wealth management clients unique deals that are usually very profitable. This means that the other banks can essentially out-compete CS, since their clients don't get the same kinds of deals. Combine that with the reputation and there's not much reason to do business with them.

zabzonk 4y ago
> they aren't well-known for their trading or investment banking prowess Actually, back in the very late 1990s i worked for Credit Suisse Financial Products in London, which was a spinoff company from CS and did complicated derivatives and such. It was quite well thought of back then - no idea now, or even if it exists. Everyone at CSFP thought the parent bank was a pile of poo.
- dboreham 4y ago
  With my brother, probably.
- pclmulqdq 4y ago
  CSFP appears to have been defunct for decades. If you look at BrokerCheck, their license in the US expired in 1999.
phs318u 4y ago
> Combine that with the reputation and there's not much reason to do business with them. On the contrary, I think that's EXACTLY why the kinds of clients they have choose to do business with them. If there wasn't already a Credit Suisse serving those types of clients, someone would invent one.
- yieldcrv 4y ago
  I agree, you don't even have to be a drug lord or the hand of the king How many times has a bank made something inconvenient for you just because of a skittish interpretation of a fraud or money laundering law? Criminal banks don’t make things inconvenient for you. Get a criminal bank, the settlements are advertisement.
- pclmulqdq 4y ago
  HSBC is their competition for that niche, and has a good investment banking arm, too.