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Credit Suisse promotes Francesca McDonagh to COO

Bank of Ireland CEO Francesca McDonagh is leaving for a new job at Credit Suisse
Bank of Ireland CEO Francesca McDonagh is leaving for a new job at Credit Suisse

Credit Suisse has hired Deutsche Bank's Dixit Joshi as chief financial officer and promoted Francesca McDonagh to chief operating officer as the Swiss lender's new boss overhauls the top ranks.

Ulrich Koerner, the latest in a string of chief executives at Credit Suisse, is trying to put the bank back on track after years of scandal and losses.

Under the reshuffle, Joshi, currently group treasurer at Deutsche Bank, will join on October 1. He had previously worked at Credit Suisse from 1995 to 2003. He replaces David Mathers who is stepping down.

Former Bank of Ireland chief executive Francesca McDonagh was initially announced as CEO of the Swiss bank's Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region.

But she will instead become COO to support Koerner in steering the group and in its strategic development, including changes to operations and costs, the bank said.

She was Bank of Ireland's first woman chief executive when she was appointed in October 2017 to succeed Richie Boucher and she previously worked in a variety of senior roles for HSBC.

Deutsche Bank said in an internal memo seen by Reuters that Joshi would keep working in his current position in the coming weeks while the bank started the internal procedure to replace him.

The German bank said Joshi had helped secure a strong balance sheet essential for its transformation.

"At the same time, we improved the efficient use of our resources and our financing costs," it said.

Credit Suisse also appointed Michael J. Rongetti as interim head of the asset management division, replacing Koerner, and said that all three new appointees would report to the bank's new group CEO.

Joshi and McDonagh will also join the bank's executive board.

Koerner, who took over the top spot last month, is expected to scale back investment banking and cut costs.

The investment bank recorded a pretax loss of 1.12 billion Swiss francs ($1.17 billion) in the second quarter and was expected to lose money again this quarter.

"We think that these new appointments are a step in the right direction towards stabilising the bank and that the focus is now on the new strategy," Zuercher KB analyst Christian Schmidiger said in a note.

Francesco De Ferrari, who remains head of the wealth management division, is also appointed CEO of the EMEA region after serving in the role on an interim basis since January, the bank said.

The bank also appointed Michael Bonacker as head of transformation, leading the operating model and cost transformation work.