Credit Suisse CEO dismisses European bank mergers as 'solution'

Mergers are not the best way to help Europe's banks deal with negative interest rates, Credit Suisse Chief Executive Tidjane Thiam said in an interview published on Sunday. "That is not the solution," Thiam told Swiss newspaper Blick am Sonntag. "Negative interest rates have created an extremely difficult environment, where many banks have come under long-term pressure. A merger here would fix nothing."
UBS Chief Executive Sergio Ermotti said last month after Germany's Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank called off merger talks that consolidation in the European banking industry remains inevitable. However, Thiam said he did not think that either of Switzerland's two largest banks, UBS and Credit Suisse, would become takeover targets. The failed merger talks between Germany's two biggest lenders prompted speculation of deals with other European banks, including UBS.