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Empresas y finanzas

Credit Suisse chair says board backs Dougan: report


    ZURICH (Reuters) - The board of Credit Suisse is standing behind Chief Executive Brady Dougan, its chairman said, applauding him for a 15.3 billion Swiss franc ($15.50 billion) capital-raising which some analysts have said dented the CEO's credibility.

    "There is no question of CEO succession at the moment," Credit Suisse chairman Urs Rohner told Finanz und Wirtschaft, according to an advance copy of Saturday's edition.

    "Brady Dougan did an excellent job, just as he did steering Credit Suisse through the crisis," Rohner said.

    He also acknowledged the Swiss bank had made mistakes.

    "We judged the market too favorably in 2009," he said, in an implicit criticism of under-fire Dougan's bulking up of investment banking at the time.

    The bank on Wednesday unveiled measures to boost its capital in a move that was welcomed by a previously critical central bank.

    The measures quieted many critics of Dougan, who brought on board high-profile investors such as Singapore-based Temasek as well as convincing smaller ones such as Norway's sovereign wealth fund and Blackrock Inc. to up stakes.

    However, others believe Dougan's credibility is damaged, in part because Credit Suisse caved on its capital plans following urgings from the Swiss National Bank, seen by many market participants as pressure. [ID:nL5E8HE47N] ($1 = 0.9870 Swiss francs)

    (Reporting By Katharina Bart; Editing by David Cowell)