Wall Street Eases Hiring Freeze in Grab for Credit Suisse Talent

What You Need to Know

Rivals still see plenty of worthy candidates among the roughly 50,000 employees.
Headhunting firms working with banks like Goldman Sachs have started to fly representatives into Zurich to speak with candidates.
UBS could give many Credit Suisse employees a reason to stay, especially on the wealth side where it’s looking to expand.

Wall Street banks and European rivals are undoing de facto hiring freezes after Credit Suisse Group AG’s emergency rescue by UBS Group AG, unable to resist the lure of top talent available at a discount.

Firms such as Deutsche Bank AG, Citigroup Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. are readying to hire some of the Swiss firm’s investment bankers and wealth managers, people with knowledge of the matter said.

Conversations are beginning in New York and London, and some headhunters are even flying to Zurich for meetings, the people said.

While shockwaves from Credit Suisse’s effective collapse are still reverberating across markets, in some banks the narrative has shifted from contagion to the once-in-a-decade opportunities on offer.

The first emergency sale of a major bank since the financial crisis is presenting rivals the chance to scoop up key personnel or businesses that might otherwise not have been on offer.

That’s launching back into action a talent market that a few weeks ago had mostly been marked by job cuts and pullbacks on hiring. Much of the interest is incoming from Credit Suisse staffers, and while the firm had already seen an exodus of top bankers over the past two years, rivals still see plenty of worthy candidates among the roughly 50,000 employees.

UBS may make its own overtures to stars it wants to keep around.

Taking a Close Look

“There are a lot of very talented investment bankers who are actively being recruited,” said Michael Nelson, managing director at recruitment firm Quest Group in New York. “A lot of these Credit Suisse people realize that UBS has a smaller business and franchise of banking across FIG, leveraged finance and advisory businesses, and they are reaching out to other firms about potential seats.”

Deutsche Bank, Europe’s biggest fixed income player, is taking a close look at hiring after UBS signaled it will wind down Credit Suisse’s debt trading business, the people said, asking not to be identified as the plans are private.

UBS Chairman Colm Kelleher, speaking at a press conference on Sunday, was clear on its intentions for Credit Suisse’s investment bank. The unit would be shrunk and aligned “with our conservative risk culture,” he said, adding that UBS will be “de-risking a lot of the tricky businesses that we are inheriting.”

Representatives for the banks declined to comment.

The rescue throws into question the spinout of Credit Suisse’s investment banking business into the First Boston unit under Michael Klein. UBS isn’t keen to go ahead with those plans and may instead cherry pick top dealmakers, people with knowledge of the matter said earlier this week.