Hedge fund assault on Credit Suisse

BELEAGUERED Credit Suisse boss Tidjane Thiam is facing an assault from a hedge fund trying to break up his bank.

The Swiss activist investor RBR Capital Advisors is plotting to carve out three new businesses from the lender in the pursuit of higher profits.

The fund is looking to create a wealth manager, an asset management company and a US investment bank out of the bank’s carcass.

It has bought a stake worth between 0.2pc and 0.3pc in Credit Suisse and is believed to have the backing of 100 other investors – some of whom also already hold shares in the bank.

The plans will be unveiled at a conference in New York this week. It is the latest blow to 55-year-old Thiam in a turnaround battle he has been fighting since taking over in 2015. Shares in the lender have almost halved since then.

He has slashed jobs but faced criticism over his sky-high pay, and was earlier this year forced to take a multi-million pound earnings cut.