It was nice while it lasted. For a while there was a very warm feeling at Credit Suisse and a tepid sort of feeling at Barclays following the news that CS would be raising junior salaries
and giving a special $20k bonus to bankers below VP-level, and that Barclays would be curtailing senior bankers ability to give junior bankers work to do at the weekends.
Now it seems that there may be some downsides too.
While Credit Suisse is busy handing out prizes with one hand, it seems to be preparing to take them away with the other. Following the big losses on Archegos Capital Management and Greensill, the Financial Times reports that Credit Suisse has cut bonus accruals by $600m in the first quarter. This is not insignificant given that the bonus pool for Credit Suisse s material risk takers and controllers (senior staff) was $972m for the whole of last year and the bonus pool for its other employees was $2.3bn. - Someone is going to lose out at the next bonus round. Directors a