Far from the turbulence affecting Credit Suisse on the other side of the Gotthard mountain, Marzio Grassi tells finews.com how the bank interacts with clients in Ticino, where personal exchanges are key to good business relationships.

Management at Credit Suisse Zurich headquarters is having a hard time allaying employee and investor concerns amid intense speculation about the bank’s turnaround plans, which it will announce at the end of the month.

Like everyone else, the bank’s Ticino regional head Marzio Grassi, is just as much in the dark about what the new strategy will look like, but he does seem sure about the bank’s solid reputation among Ticino’s business community.

Startups

One explanation could be the type of clients that the bank has there, many of which are family-run businesses in traditional industries such as agriculture, tourism, and granite quarrying, who appreciate the bank’s 110-year presence in the Canton.

Yet Grassi also has his eyes on businesses in more modern sectors such as pharmaceuticals, med-tech companies, and technology-based startups, which have been steadily weaving themselves into the region’s diverse economic carpet.

One Bank

These businesses are on the rise and - together with the region’s exports to neighboring Italy - are likely to be where Ticino’s growth will come from in coming years.

Small caps and startups make for prime «one bank» clients, whereby the bank might try and gain the entrepreneur as a private banking client after winning its business, or vice versa.

Although Credit Suisse’s upcoming strategic review could result in the «one bank» model being replaced as the bank’s investment banking unit is curbed outside of Switzerland, in Ticino the model has been a success.  

«The collaboration between the corporate side and the private bank has worked particularly well over the last years,» Grassi said, adding that for the region's 560-strong workforce «we aren’t just one bank on paper here.»

Shorter Journeys

Grassi’s day-to-day has improved significantly since the Ceneri base tunnel opened two years ago making traveling around the Canton faster.

«It’s amazing, I can be in Locarno in 30 minutes. This is impossible by car,» Grassi said.

And it's not just locals benefitting from the tunnel. The Ceneri tunnel also reduced the time it takes to get from Zurich to Lugano to two hours, making the region desirable for professionals living elsewhere, able to work remotely, and in search of a better quality of life.

Although property demand has dwindled this year due to higher interest rates and more stringent mortgage conditions, those who have relocated, are helping counteract the demographic decline affecting the region in recent years.

Emotions Matter

Experience gained during Credit Suisse's long history in the region is also useful when it comes to succession planning and is something the bank’s family-run companies appreciate as many are in the process of handing over their companies to the next generation.

After approaching the topic too technically, the bank realized «that emotions matter a lot,» prompting it to take into account what it means for an individual, who has done nothing else besides running their company, to suddenly hand it over. 

«Imagine giving everything up from one day to the next,» Grassi said.

Failing to understand this, the owner might not be able to sign over the company at the last minute, he added.

One-to-One

Yet it is not just the owner who requires such delicacy. Every member of the board needs to be heard individually even if everything has been agreed upon in meetings beforehand, he said.

«We have experienced that family or board members might be reluctant to express their wishes in front of others,» Grassi said.

Through his 38 years doing business at Credit Suisse in the region, he has learned to handle these situations and conducts one-to-one conversations with each member of the board.

Regardless of the outcome of this month's strategic review, it is likely that he will continue doing so in future.