The Credit Suisse Group is the second-largest financial services company in Switzerland, behind longtime rival UBS. It was founded in 1856 under the name Schweizerische Kreditanstalt (SKA, Swiss Credit Institution). It provides conventional banking services to customers in Switzerland and insurance through its Winterthur subsidiary and wealth management services to customers overseas. It also offers investment banking services through its Credit Suisse First Boston Group subsidiary, a bulge bracket Wall Street firm.
In 1940, it opened its first branch outside of Switzerland, in New York City. In 1988, it gained a controlling stake in The First Boston Corporation , hence the name of its investment banking unit Credit Suisse First Boston. In 1993, Credit Suisse Group bought Schweizerische Volksbank (Popular Bank of Switzerland). In 1996, The two retail banks were merged and renamed to Credit Suisse.
In 2000 it acquired the investment bank Donaldson, Lufkin, and Jenrette .
The company is listed on the SWX Swiss Exchange (stock symbol: CSGN) and on the New York Stock Exchange (stock symbol): CSR
Units
The company has three operating units as of 2004.
External links