Credit Suisse named Marisa Drew and Ewen Stevenson to jointly lead its European investment banking business, following the departure of Jamie Welch to a client. Drew and Stevenson will continue in their current roles as head of the bank's global market solutions group and head of the global financial institutions group (FIG) respectively, in addition to taking on the new responsibilities, Credit Suisse said in a memo to employees on Wednesday.
A bank spokeswoman in London confirmed the contents of the memo. "Ewen and I have very very complementary skills, we go hand in glove," Drew told Reuters. "Myself from the financing, capital markets and client coverage side and Ewen from the FIG and M&A and client coverage side, and both businesses are two of our most successful in EMEA."
Stevenson worked on a number or large deals including advising the British government on how it should recapitalise banks during the 2008 financial crisis. Drew worked on deals including US cable group Liberty Global's $15.8 bln acquisition of British cable group Virgin Media.
Welch, who became head of investment banking in Europe following the departure of Luigi De Vecchi in 2012, is leaving to become chief financial officer at Texas-based pipeline operator Energy Transfer. Switzerland's second-largest bank last month heralded the success of its drive to cut costs and reduce risky assets in its investment banking operations when it reported first-quarter net profit of 1.30 billion francs ($1.4 billion), up from 44 million a year earlier.
"Even without any major political event, we are seeing a shift in investor sentiment, moving from fear and inertia to the desire to take more risk, and it is indicative of a level of confidence that the worst is behind us," said Drew. The bank, which shed 1,800 staff in the past year, ranked sixth in terms of investment banking revenue in Europe, Middle East and Africa in 2012, earning $707 million, Thomson Reuters data calculates, down 30 percent from a year earlier.