Trying to bank on trust

"If you can't trust a Swiss banker, what's the world coming to?" said Pierce Brosnan, playing James Bond in The World Is Not Enough.

Trust is exactly what Credit Suisse chairman Urs Rohner thinks should be at the top of every banker's agenda right now, after the financial crisis in 2008 took a heavy toll on bankers' reputation and severely eroded the public trust they had come to enjoy in the boom years.

Credit Suisse coped with the financial crisis much better than its rivals as it did not need a bailout. Still, like other investment banks, the second-largest Swiss lender has had to commit to cut costs, by 4.4 billion Swiss francs (HK$35.9 billion) by 2015. Its Hong Kong operation is also said to be trying to sublet some of its office space at the International Commerce Centre to cut costs.

The 53-year-old chairman is optimistic Credit Suisse can meet the cost-cutting target in the short term, but said it would take much longer for the banking industry as a whole to rebuild the trust of customers.

"There is no easy or quick fix for rebuilding the trust and reputation we enjoyed in the old days. It takes one or two decades to build a strong, credible reputation but you can lose it in a short time. During the financial crisis, some banks and individuals made some very serious mistakes and the whole industry now has to make sure these mistakes are corrected," Rohner said in an exclusive interview with the South China Morning Post on a recent trip to Hong Kong.

"Banks have to deliver results consistently to rebuild their reputation. Running a bank needs capital as much as trust of customers and market participants. That is particularly important in the wealth management business as people will not give you their money to manage if they do not trust you."