Credit Suisse acquires Morgan Stanley’s $13bn private wealth business in Emea

Credit Suisse on Wednesday announced that it has signed an agreement to acquire Morgan Stanley’s wealth management businesses in Europe,
Middle East and Africa (Emea), excluding Switzerland.

The businesses with a total of over $13 billion of assets under management are based in the UK, Italy and Dubai, serving predominantly international Ultra High Net Worth (UHNW) and High Net Worth (HNW) clients across Europe.

The transaction complements Credit Suisse’s leading wealth management business in Europe and reinforces the bank’s focus on growing its UHNW and HNW client segments, the bank said in a media statement.

It added that the acquisition will add scale to the bank’s core growth markets in Emea including the UK, Italy, Nordics, Russia and the Middle East. In the UK market, the acquisition will significantly increase Credit Suisse’s client base, making the bank a top ten player and leading wealth manager, it noted.

The businesses acquired will be integrated into Credit Suisse’s Private Banking & Wealth Management division. The acquisition will offer Morgan Stanley’s private banking clients, relationship managers and other employees an opportunity to benefit from a leading product platform and client offering, broad expertise and the highest quality standards of one of the world’s longest established private banks.

Romeo Lacher, Head of Private Banking for Western Europe at Credit Suisse, said: “Accelerating our growth momentum in our international markets and in our UHNW client segment remains a key priority for Credit Suisse.

“Morgan Stanley has developed a strong foothold in wealth management over the past years and its high quality client base and experienced
employees perfectly complement our ambitions to grow our share in these areas. We look forward to welcoming Morgan Stanley’s clients and
employees to Credit Suisse and working with them to deliver a strong portfolio of products, services and expertise across our private
banking platform.”

The acquisition is structured as an asset purchase for the businesses involved. Subject to satisfying certain closing conditions, it is
expected to close later this year.

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