Credit Suisse refers ex-staff for new jobs
Credit Suisse has initiated a rare recruitment programme to help place staff made redundant from its commercial real estate and leveraged finance divisions with clients, consultants and other service providers.
The initiative, which is being driven by Steve Kantor, co-head of global securities at Credit Suisse in New York, dates back to October, but last week the Swiss bank sent a formal memo to clients and other contacts who may be looking for talent in the commercial mortgage backed securities area.
More than 100 people had been made redundant from the real estate finance and securitisation group, most of whom were based in New York, a source familiar with the situation said. A smaller number of cuts has been made in leveraged finance.
Robert Brennan, global head of real estate finance and securitisation at Credit Suisse said: "Origination and trading volumes in the CMBS market have fallen dramatically during the credit crunch. As a result, we've had to part ways with some exceptionally talented people. We care about our ex-employees, and our clients recognise that they can be great assets to their businesses, which is why this effort has been so successful."
A spokesman for Credit Suisse in New York said the memo had generated 60 job searches since it was sent last Thursday.
The leveraged finance group will within the next two weeks repeat the effort in sending a formal memo to clients and other service providers.
Collectively banks have made thousands of redundancies since the onset of the credit crisis. Jamie Dimon, chief executive of JPMorgan, initiated a similar effort for employees of Bear Stearns that did not join the combined group, but otherwise acts on behalf of former staff are rare.
Chip Sykes, a former associate in the commercial mortgage backed securities group at Credit Suisse in New York, who has moved to a high profile real estate investment trust, said: "This is a relatively small business where there are few opportunities right now, so it's imperative to have people in the industry recommend you."
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