CS Credit Suisse Group

By Brian Blackstone 

ZURICH -- Credit Suisse Group AG Chief Executive Tidjane Thiam was awarded 9.7 million Swiss francs ($10.2 million) in compensation for 2017, as his strategic shift toward managing money for wealthy clients showed signs of paying off despite the bank posting a third-straight annual loss.

Total compensation for the bank's 12-member executive board came in at 69.9 million francs last year, down about three million francs from 2016, while the total bonus pool was 3.19 billion francs, up 3% from 2016.

Banker pay has been a controversial topic globally since the financial crisis one decade ago. In recent years, it has been particularly thorny for Credit Suisse as the Swiss banking giant underwent deep, and costly, changes that made it hard to define success.

After a rocky 2015 and 2016, last year was one of relative calm. The bank's strategic shift toward wealth management -- while maintaining a streamlined investment banking unit -- proceeded without big disruptions and it didn't have costly litigation. Its share price, which briefly fell below 10 francs a share in mid-2016, rose by 20% in 2017.

So far in 2018, Credit Suisse shares are down about 8%, trading Friday above 16 francs.

Mr. Thiam's pay for 2017 was down about 5% from 10.2 million francs the previous year, reflecting his decision a year ago to give up a portion of his long-term incentive bonus. At the time, the board of directors had proposed a pay package of 11.9 million francs for Mr. Thiam. But facing a backlash from shareholders, Mr. Thiam and other executive board members said they would accept a 40% reduction in their short-term incentives awards for 2016 and long-term incentives for 2017.

Credit Suisse hasn't turned an annual profit since Mr. Thiam took over as chief executive in the middle of 2015. The loss in 2015 was prompted by impairment charges as it scaled back its investment banking business, part of a broader strategic overhaul. In the wake of those results, Mr. Thiam asked that his bonus be reduced

The bank lost 2.7 billion francs in 2016 after reaching a settlement worth about $5.3 billion with the U.S. Justice Department related to mortgage securities sold before the financial crisis -- long before Mr. Thiam joined the firm.

Last year, it was an accounting adjustment that drove Credit Suisse to a loss of 983 million francs. It had to write down more than $2 billion in deferred tax assets because of U.S. tax reform legislation that was signed into law in late 2017. Many other banks, including Credit Suisse's crosstown rival UBS Group AG, had to do the same.

At a press conference last month for the bank's annual results, Mr. Thiam made it clear that his bonus shouldn't be influenced by the tax-related accounting charge.

"You're asking me because Mr. Trump decided to sign the U.S. tax cut and jobs act on Dec. 22, and not Jan. 1, which means that the bonuses should be cut? Because if he would have signed it Jan. 1 we would have had a 1.8 billion [franc] profit," he said. "So I don't think the board is going to take that view."

Nevertheless, the overall bonus pool figure disclosed Friday was reduced by 100 million francs because of the effect of the tax-related loss. The compensation report noted the tax charge was "outside of the control of management and had minimal impact on capital, liquidity, our ability to pay dividends or our underlying results."

The bank also proposed long-term incentives for the executive board this year that could total a maximum 58.5 million francs if the bank achieves certain targets related to shareholder value and return on tangible equity over a three-year period.

Write to Brian Blackstone at brian.blackstone@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 23, 2018 06:19 ET (10:19 GMT)

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