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 And yet it was the successful May cap hike – since which the bank has added 7 billion francs in market cap – and the conclusion of an expensive mortgage security scandal in the U.S. that provided Thiam a bit of breathing room.

«Walk the Floor, Tidjane»

The Ivorian-Frenchman, who refers to this as the «new chapter», was urged by an influential outside adviser to use the leeway to «walk the floor» again. Thiam is too cerebral for the pally and approachable image that Jamie Dimon has adapted at J.P. Morgan or the wry Twitter persona of Goldman Sachs' Lloyd Blankfein, but Credit Suisse’s staff should still see more of their CEO, was the advice.

Thiam, who surrounds himself with tight-knit group of loyalists and has often displayed a tin ear for both public opinion as well as the concerns of his rank and file, doesn’t appear to have taken the advice. Credit Suisse’s top management only addresses staff on the day of quarterly results, and rarely travel from their central Paradeplatz offices to Uetlihof, the hive of office space on the outskirts of Zurich where most of the bank’s several thousand Swiss staff work.

Past slights may explain Thiam’s guardedness. A brilliant tactician and strategist with degrees from two of France’s most prestigious universities, he was deeply wounded when it became clear early in his executive career that he would not be welcomed into the top ranks of France’s blue-chip firms, likely due simply to ignorance and racism.

«Superb Machine by 2019»

Instead, he turned to the U.K., where he spent the bulk of his business career – 13 years. His last job there, as boss of British insurer Prudential, was of course his springboard to Credit Suisse three years ago.

Among his associates, it is assumed the extremely ambitious Thiam will eventually return to the U.K. – in a big job. His recent hire of a noted U.K. business journalist, James Quinn of «The Telegraph», is seen as part of this. Quinn, the theory goes, has the credibility and media connections to prepare the ground for Thiam to eventually return to a high-profile U.K. job.

The problem? Credit Suisse isn't on the radar of the general U.K. public, therefore is unlikely to pave Thiam's way into a job in the highest ranks of British finance – if that is what he is aiming for. His next step is of course unclear, and he remains unreadable.

Thiam himself never referred to a timeline further out than 2019. By that year, he argued, Credit Suisse would be a «really superb machine to perform as it has been designed to do.»