Credit Suisse Chief Operating Officer to Leave Bank for New Role

Credit Suisse Chief Operating Officer Francesca McDonagh is leaving the firm three months after its emergency takeover by rival UBS Group AG.

(Bloomberg) — Credit Suisse Chief Operating Officer Francesca McDonagh is leaving the firm three months after its emergency takeover by rival UBS Group AG.

McDonagh has decided to resign “to pursue a new opportunity outside of the bank,” Credit Suisse Chief Executive Officer Ulrich Koerner said in an internal memo on Monday seen by Bloomberg and confirmed by a spokesperson. “I am very appreciative of her leadership,” Koerner said in the memo, adding McDonagh will “remain available to ensure a smooth transition.”

McDonagh is one of the first high-profile departures since a cull among Credit Suisse’s leadership shortly after the historic takeover closed in early June. Chief Financial Officer Dixit Joshi and Investment Bank Co-Head David Miller left at that time. The memo didn’t specify the role McDonagh is taking up. 

UBS agreed to buy Credit Suisse in March in a rescue engineered by the Swiss government after a collapse of client and investor confidence. UBS Chief Executive Officer Sergio Ermotti and Chairman Colm Kelleher have since moved quickly to integrate the competitor, including by replacing top executives. 

The Swiss bank is currently cutting hundreds of wealth-management jobs in Asia in response to muted client activity and China’s slowing economy, Bloomberg reported earlier Monday. 

Read More: UBS to Cut Hundreds of Wealth Jobs in Asia as Activity Slows 

UBS has outlined major targets for the integration of its former rival including 3,000 domestic job cuts and more than $10 billion in cost savings. That’s likely to be a fraction of the roles to disappear globally.

McDonagh was elevated to chief operating officer at Credit Suisse in August last year, before the firm’s downward spiral accelerated and the takeover by UBS became a reality. Previously the CEO of Bank of Ireland Group Plc, she had been originally hired to oversee the Europe, Middle East and Africa region. 

The Financial Times reported McDonagh’s departure earlier on Monday. 

Read More: UBS Culls Credit Suisse’s Top Leaders After Historic Deal Closes

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