Who is André Helfenstein, who is taking the helm of Credit Suisse's domestic arm? 

The incoming head of Credit Suisse's Swiss business, Andre Helfenstein, won the job when Thomas Gottstein, who ran the business for the last four years, was elevated to CEO of the wider bank, as finews.com reported.

Helfenstein, a Swiss banker, is a 12-year veteran of the bank with experience in wealth management as well as corporate and institutional clients. Unlike Gottstein, a long-standing investment banker, Helfenstein won his spurs as a consultant. 

After studies at St. Gallen's prestigious business university, Helfenstein worked for a mid-sized engineering business before moving to Boston Consulting Group in 1996. In 12 years with the consulting firm, he made partner and was point person for Swiss finance before in 2007 joining Credit Suisse.

Juggling Swiss Jobs

He originally worked in a staff position for then-private banking head Hans-Ulrich Meister, making the move to a «front» job in 2010 as head of private clients in Zurich His breakthrough came five years ago, when he took over the corporate and institutional Swiss client job vacated byBarend Fruitof – as well as oversight of 1,800 employees.

Helfenstein was already in the job when Gottstein, newly named as Swiss boss, began carving out the unit under CEO Tidjane Thiam's direction. Gottstein packaged Swiss corporate clients into Credit Suisse's investment bank – a move which reduced Helfenstein's responsibilities.

Frequent C-Suite Changes 

Since then, he has managed Credit Suisse's business in Switzerland with institutional clients, other banks, and independent asset managers , and now been awarded with the top home market job. Helfenstein is the sixth new appointment to Credit Suisse's top management within a year – a sign of the bank's tumultuous times.

Helfenstein inherits a work in process from Gottstein which will dominate the Swiss unit's priorities in coming months. Ahead of a planned partial listing which was later blown off, Gottstein had slashed the unit's spending and bolstered profitability.

It falls to Helfenstein to kickstart growth again – and oversee a pricey counterstrike against financial start-ups, as finews.com reported.