By Brenna Hughes Neghaiwi
ZURICH (Reuters) -Credit Suisse is reviewing its operations in Russia, Chief Executive Thomas Gottstein said on Tuesday, as he detailed tens of billions of dollars in assets managed for wealthy Russian customers.
“We’re now reviewing the situation. It’s a very serious situation,” Gottstein said during Morgan Stanley’s European Financials Conference in London, referring to the impacts of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “We will see over the coming months what it means for our operations. I have not taken any decision.”
A growing list of financial firms are looking to exit Russia, with Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase winding down business there.
The comments from Gottstein come just hours after UniCredit’s chief executive said the Italian bank was also urgently reviewing its Russian business.
Credit Suisse last week detailed a gross credit exposure of 1.569 billion Swiss francs ($1.69 billion) to Russia at end-2021, which Gottstein said had been reduced “materially” by the end of February.
On Tuesday, he outlined for the first time the extent of Credit Suisse’s business with wealthy Russian clients, saying roughly 4% of the assets it manages in its core wealth management business belong to Russian clients.
“We have roughly 4% of our assets under management in wealth management with Russian clients, be they Russian-domiciled or Russian nationals who live in the West,” Gottstein said.
Switzerland’s second-biggest bank managed some 1.6 trillion Swiss francs in assets as of end-2021, 827 billion francs of which were related to its wealth management businesses.
While Gottstein did not provide an updated tally for current assets under management, 4% of the year-end wealth management figure would amount to some 33 billion Swiss francs ($35.17 billion) in assets associated with wealthy Russian customers.
The bank last week said it had minimal exposure in terms of loans granted to individuals subject to sanctions in its wealth management division.
Credit Suisse employs some 125 people in its Moscow office across investment banking, wealth management and other operations.
Gottstein said Credit Suisse was also reviewing its broader operations in Eastern Europe.
($1 = 0.9382 Swiss francs)
(Reporting by Brenna Hughes Neghaiwi, editing by Silke Koltrowitz)
