It's been pretty clear that Credit Suisse has opted for some intense cost cutting measures, but I still got a laugh from reading DealBreaker this morning.
The following is the exact extract from the 'front lines'
CS now requires bankers to pay for their own mobile phones. New reimbursement policy “piggy backs” on personal phone plans. CS will now not reimburse employees for domestic data usage and reimbursement for voice will be limited to certain thresholds. How bad you have to be to ask your employees to basically “share your family data plan with me”. So now if you work at the bank you need to provide a line to your wife, son and CS. Further, if you choose to get reimbursed for business calls using your personal phone (again, only option now), employees need to submit personal phone records so somebody in back-office can see what business calls you have made. Some people have decided to pay extra (again CS will not pay for domestic data, only business calls based on predetermined threshold) and get a separate line in order to avoid
Are the days of business class roadshows around Europe over and done with? On a side note, I was very impressed by the culture of CS when I attended a networking session at their offices last week. The firm seemed very appealing to work at, but say in HK and New York, are there deep structural issues? Thoughts?
Flights for associates and up (not junior analysts, and not sure if this applies to them): Business Class flights to any destination above 5/6 hours. Hotel depends on the "approved hotel" list, which every bank has. I also have heard that bankers have been paying for their phone plans as early as three years ago... this isn't news.... Frankly, it’s like $100 a month for the teams that don’t travel outside the U.S. much. Expenses are highly scrutinized at CS.
Culture-wise... CS does this thing where it hires an army of nerds, and therefore the entire place is a nerd shop... Note, this does not mean better banker or higher caliber, just think of the place as a very "safe hiring" bank, focusing on bringing in simply nerds. I think other banks have a better distribution of nerd-athlete-experienced banker/analyst assembly (of note, I believe JPM does a great job hiring a range of hire types). Since this place is stacked with nerds, the analysts who exit end up going to well-known HFs, Pes, Long shops, and any other type of fund (activist, PE, etc.). Also, CS reputation on a resume is extremely well regarded… I know a guy who has almost always gotten a buy side interview cause of the brand since it is well known that it is a nerd shop.
What the fuck are you talking about? CS hires nerds? Yes - all banks hire people who tend to be good with programming when they need to hire somebody for their quant desks. Just like all banks will hire someone that can drink like a fish when they need an equity sales guy. This is not a high school from a shitty B-rated film. You don't have nerds and jocks. Just people wanting to make some $$$ with various levels of interest outside of work. Grow the fuck up.