Credit Suisse Asia COO Fernando Said to Leave, Morgan Takes Over

Feb. 28 (Bloomberg) -- Dumith Fernando, Credit Suisse Group AG’s chief operating officer for the Asia-Pacific region, is leaving Switzerland’s second-biggest bank, two people with knowledge of the matter said.

Andrew Morgan, global head of tax and chief financial officer for Asia-Pacific, will assume Fernando’s role immediately, the people said, asking not to be identified because the departure hasn’t been publicly announced. Morgan will have the COO title in addition to his current responsibilities, the people said.

Fernando couldn’t be reached to comment on his departure.

Fernando joined Credit Suisse in 2007 and was appointed regional COO in late 2010 by Osama Abbasi, the bank’s former chief executive officer for Asia-Pacific who left in November amid a global restructuring. His departure follows that of Olivier Thiriet, former head of Asia-Pacific cash equities, and George Lin, who ran consumer, retail and health-care investment banking for Asia.

Thiriet and Lin will join Bank of America Corp. later this year, people with knowledge of the matter said this week.

Credit Suisse this month raised its target for cost reductions for a third time in seven months as it posted fourth- quarter earnings that fell short of analysts’ estimates. The bank said on Feb. 7 it will seek an additional 400 million Swiss francs ($430 million) in cost savings by the end of 2015, on top of 4 billion francs in planned cuts announced since 2011.

--Editors: Mohammed Hadi, Philip Lagerkranser