Credit Suisse Overhauls Investment Bank's Top Brass -- 2nd Update

Credit Suisse Group AG on Monday unveiled a raft of changes to the upper ranks of its investment bank, bringing in new co-heads for Europe, the Middle East and Africa as the Swiss banking giant revamps the division amid a broader strategic overhaul.

Mathew Cestar and Jens Welter, both Credit Suisse veterans, have been appointed co-heads of investment banking and capital markets for the region. They succeed Marisa Drew and Mark Echlin, who have moved on to other positions within the bank.

The management shuffle comes as the Swiss banking giant undertakes a broad strategic shift to put greater emphasis on its more predictable wealth management operations while scaling back investment banking, which can be highly profitable but also volatile.

While investment banking has recently proven to be attractive for Credit Suisse, with revenues and profit up sharply in the first half of 2017, the bank lags behind its U.S. rivals.

Credit Suisse ranked ninth in the first half of this year measured by investment banking revenue for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, according to Dealogic.

The top four positions are dominated by U.S.-based banks. JPMorganChase & Co. holds the top position followed by Citigroup Inc., Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Deutsche Bank is fifth.

To bolster its franchise, Credit Suisse has turned to Messrs Cestar and Welter, who in addition to their new responsibilities, will retain their positions as chair of the global credit products commitment committee, and co-head of global consumer products and retail investment banking respectively.

Mr. Cestar recently worked on the financing for Bain Capital's $3.2 billion acquisition of the Diversey unit of Sealed Air Corp. and the financing of CVC Capital Partners' acquisition of Grupo Cortefiel, a Spanish retailer.

Mr. Welter, meanwhile, advised McCormick & Co. on its $4.2 billion deal this summer to acquire Reckitt Benckiser Group PLC's food division. He also worked on the merger last year of Nestlé SA's ice cream business with R&R Group to create Froneri, a global ice-cream operator.

Mr. Echlin's new role is chairman of U.K. investment banking and capital markets, while Ms. Drew will become head of the newly created impact advisory and finance department, which supports the bank's social investing and philanthropic endeavors.

In another move, Credit Suisse banker Henrik Aslaksen was appointed executive chairman of Investment banking and capital markets for EMEA. Mr. Aslaksen joined last year following a 13-year stint at Deutsche Bank AG where he served as global head of M&A investment banking.

Write to Brian Blackstone at brian.blackstone@wsj.com and Ben Dummett at ben.dummett@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 18, 2017 10:49 ET (14:49 GMT)