Credit Suisse Group announces the appointments of Dixit Joshi as Chief Financial Officer and Francesca McDonagh as Group Chief Operating Officer. They will both join the Executive Board. Michael J. Rongetti is named as ad interim Chief Executive Officer of the Asset Management division. All three will report directly to Group CEO Ulrich Körner. Francesco De Ferrari, CEO of the Wealth Management division, is appointed CEO of the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region after serving in this role on an ad interim basis since January 2022.

Today Credit Suisse announced appointments to the Executive Board. For more information, visit our media release: https://t.co/FAl5cfCxMM

— Credit Suisse (@CreditSuisse) August 22, 2022

Dixit Joshi rejoins Credit Suisse, taking up the role of CFO on October 1, 2022. He will replace David Mathers who decided to step down after more than 11 years in his role as previously communicated. For the past five years, Dixit Joshi served as Group Treasurer at Deutsche Bank, where he played a key part in the bank’s restructuring while overhauling the firm’s balance sheet. During his career spanning three decades, he held various senior investment banking roles across different geographies, helping oversee a series of businesses as well as complex transformation projects. Previously, Dixit Joshi served as Deutsche Bank’s Head of the Fixed-Income Institutional Client Group, Listed Derivatives and Markets Clearing as well as Head of Global Prime Finance and as Head of APAC Equities in Hong Kong. Before joining Deutsche Bank in 2011, Dixit Joshi held senior roles at Barclays Capital. Between 1995 and 2003, he worked for Credit Suisse in New York and London, having started his career in 1992 at Standard Bank of South Africa. Dixit Joshi has a Bachelor of Science degree in Actuarial Science and Statistics from the University of Witwatersrand, South Africa. He will be based in Zurich.

Francesca McDonagh, who was previously announced as CEO of the EMEA region, is appointed Group Chief Operating Officer, starting on September 19, 2022. This new role will support the Group CEO in the steering and strategic development of the Group including operational and cost transformation. She will also lead the enterprise architecture development, including focusing on organizational design and bank-wide efficiencies. Francesca McDonagh most recently served as Group CEO at the Bank of Ireland after holding several senior management roles at HSBC Group. She will be based in Zurich.

Francesco De Ferrari, CEO of the Wealth Management division, who has acted as ad interim CEO of the EMEA region, is appointed to take over the role on a permanent basis with immediate effect.

Michael J. Rongetti will take over as ad interim CEO of the Asset Management division with immediate effect, replacing Ulrich Körner who was appointed Group CEO. In addition, he will continue to serve as Head of Asset Management Americas and Global Head of Investments and Partnerships. Previously, Michael J. Rongetti was CFO of the Asset Management Division (2012 to 2021) as well as CFO for Private Banking Wealth Management Products (2013 to 2015). He joined Credit Suisse in 1998 and will continue to be based in New York.

In addition, Michael Bonacker is appointed Group Head of Transformation, leading the operating model and cost transformation work for the Group. He will start his new role on September 1, 2022, reporting to Francesca McDonagh once she joins the company. Michael Bonacker is currently Vice Chairman of Investment Banking & Capital Markets EMEA and a member of the Client Advisory Group. Before joining Credit Suisse in February 2022, Michael Bonacker worked as Global Senior Advisor for Oliver Wyman and also served as Head of Corporate Development at UBS Group. In a career spanning more than 30 years, he also held leadership positions at BHF-Bank, Commerzbank, Lehman Brothers/Nomura, Deutsche Bank and McKinsey. He will be based in Zurich.

Axel P. Lehmann, Chairman of the Board of Directors, said: “I am delighted to welcome Dixit, Francesca, Michael and Michael to their new roles. Dixit and Francesca are joining Credit Suisse with impressive track records, adding a wealth of experience at this important juncture. All four are expected to drive our strategic and operational transformation into the future, with the clear objective to position Credit Suisse for a successful future and realize its full potential.”

Ulrich Körner, Group CEO, said: “I would like to welcome Dixit and Francesca to Credit Suisse, while congratulating Michael and Michael on taking their respective new roles. They all join with extensive professional experience and a profound knowledge of the financial services industry, as we accelerate our efforts to make Credit Suisse a stronger, simpler and more efficient Group with more sustainable returns. Dixit has an impressive turnaround track-record, with a broad experience across a range of investment-banking businesses, which will be invaluable on our journey in transforming the Investment Bank into a highly competitive Banking and more sustainable Markets business that complements Wealth Management and the Swiss Bank. I would like to thank Francesco for taking on the role of CEO of the EMEA region on top of his responsibilities as CEO of the Wealth Management division. At the same time, I would like to thank David for his many years of service and his continued commitment to Credit Suisse, helping ensure a smooth transition period.”

Source: Credit Suisse