Credit Suisse Spinoff Asks If World Needs a New Investment Bank
First Boston invented modern M&A and minted leaders like Larry Fink and Joe Perella. But what will it be once it’s separated from Credit Suisse?
Illustration: Philip Lindeman for Bloomberg Businessweek
Credit Suisse Group AG is turning back the clock. In a bid to save itself from a series of scandals and financial troubles, the Zurich-based bank is dismantling the financial behemoth it assembled at great cost over five decades and returning to its origins as banker to the world’s ultra-wealthy. But the decision to spin off First Boston, the American investment bank it acquired in 1990, is giving off an even stronger what’s-old-is-new vibe.
It’s also attracting a fair amount of skepticism around Wall Street for being more nostalgic than strategic.