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Correct.

Why not? Private bank Notenstein was just sold. Wouldn't Credit Suisse have been interested? 

We've had other priorities and there haven't been any relevant opportunities for us anyway. Also, acquisitions in private banking are extremely difficult, because you have a six- to 12-month period between the agreement of a deal and its conclusion.

«We want to hire good banker teams from competitors»

During that period, you're exposed to the risk of private bankers – and their clients – leaving. You may end up taking up as much as 30 percent less client money than you pay for. But we are open to good teams from rival banks moving to Credit Suisse.

Is consolidation among Swiss banks finished with the sale of Notenstein? 

No. The number of banks in Switzerland has dwindled to 261 from 360 in the last ten years, and this will continue. 

What makes you so sure? 

There's the margin pressure, driven by more competition from non-banking entities as well as the need to invest in areas like digitization, regulation, and compliance. 

It's also going to become more complicated for Swiss wealth managers without a presence abroad to win market access. It will become more difficult or impossible to advise clients. Switzerland has to find a way forward with the European Union here.

«Smaller, offshore-focused institutes will struggle»

I don't believe they can at the moment – both because of the strong anti-EU sentiment in Switzerland as well as the ongoing Brexit negotiations.

The EU won't stand for anything that will bring them any disadvantage with Great Britain. It's going be to be very difficult for smaller institutes in western Switzerland and Ticino which have lived mainly from offshore banking. We're also faced with a new reality. We have a good starting position thanks to our existing operations in Europe.

Isn't it high time for Swiss banks to cooperate more?

Absolutely. I'm still amazed that for example cantonal banks don't do more together, and prefer to work independently instead. I wouldn't rule out that we work with some of our competitors at some point, be it in compliance or certain transactions in information technology.

«We're not relying on acquisitions for growth»

Lots of Swiss media outlets print their publications in the same printer's. What's stopping us from cooperating, for example in execution? It would certainly make our sector much more efficient. 

What are your plans for the second half of 2018?

I don't want to rule anything out, but we're not reliant on acquisitions in the next three years in order to grow. We want to do so organically, and by investing in the businesses where we're already number one or two.

Beyond that, everything centers around the transformation in our industry – including digitizing retail banking. We have to become more agile here.

How so?

The majority of our clients regularly use our digital services. But when we're closing a contract like for a mortgage, they often still want a personal meeting. Here, our bankers have to be able to decide faster – it's taken much too long in the past.

«Our pricing mechanism has to improve»

Our pricing has to become more efficient too, and valid for at least one week instead of just 24 hours. There's a lot to be improved in the mortgage business, especially since this area is seeing so much more competition from insurers and pension funds.

How?

Through hard work, better processes, and investments in staff and digitization, which should become easier thanks to improved profitability. And I should also mention profit figures: it was an important signal for us to say in October of 2015 that Credit Suisse Switzerland would deliver 2.3 billion Swiss francs ($2.32 billion) in profit.

Why?

It showed where we want to go – even though many industry observers didn't believe us and some bank bosses said «Gottstein doesn't know math». Meanwhile, financial analysts predict a 2018 profit of between 2.1 billion and 2.2 billion francs from us.

Wherever we end up at year-end, the decisive thing is that we are playing in another league on profitability, and our cost-income ratio has improved to less than 60 percent from 68 percent. Honestly, I'm proud of that. Nobody believed we could do that.

We're not at year-end quite yet.

Right. It's like in ice hockey: you only win the playoff after you can win four games. We're not quite there yet. We have to deliver four healthy quarters this year, but I'm optimistic. There's still a lot to do, and we have a variety of projects in the pipeline across the bank.

«No question of me cutting back now»

For example, we're launching digital onboarding for small- and mid-sized firms and we're evaluating whether we want to license our Digipigi project internationally to other financial firms. The demand is there.

The chatter in Zurich is that «Gottstein is tired,» and won't be in the job much longer. 

I'm full of energy. I'm only 54 and I want to stay for a few more years. There's no question of me cutting back now. That's why I'm trying to keep fit with workouts, swimming, and once in awhile a round of golf. 

Thomas Gottstein has been the CEO of Credit Suisse Switzerland as well as a member of the parent bank's top management since October 2015. The 54-year-old investment banker joined the Swiss bank from rival UBS in 1999. Before taking the domestic job, Gottstein was briefly head of so-called premium, or ultra-rich, clients. He studied business at the University of Zurich and graduated with a PhD in finance and accounting. Gottstein was once ranked one of Europe's top junior golf players - a sport he maintains today. He also represents Credit Suisse on the board of Zurich's opera house.