Credit Suisse Loses Three More Investment Bankers to Banco Santander

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(Bloomberg) — The flurry of departures from Credit Suisse Group AG this week showed no signs of stopping with three more managing directors leaving for Banco Santander SA, people with knowledge of the matter said.

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The three include equity capital markets chairman Ernesto Cruz, who had been at the Swiss lender for almost four decades, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing private information.

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Also joining the Spanish lender are Steven Winnert, head of equity-linked origination, and William Brett, head of corporate equity derivatives, the people said. Winnert had worked at Credit Suisse since 1993, while Brett joined in 2012 from Nomura Holdings Inc., according to their LinkedIn profiles. 

Representatives for Credit Suisse and Santander declined to comment.

The three are among at least 11 investment bankers reported by Bloomberg News this week to have left the storied Swiss lender for other banks with the completion of its merger with UBS Group AG looming. The merger might close as soon as Monday after UBS cleared a last major hurdle to the transaction on Friday.

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Since the UBS merger was orchestrated by the Swiss government in March, more than a dozen Credit Suisse investment bankers have joined Santander. 

Santander has been building out its US investment banking business snapping up senior Credit Suisse bankers including head of M&A Steve Geller, co-head of energy and infrastructure Rob Santangelo, global head of equity and debt capital markets David Hermer and most recently Niron Stabinsky, who led its business involving special purpose acquisition companies, or SPACs.

(Updates with possible UBS-Credit Suisse completion date in fifth paragraph)