Credit Suisse CEO expects further consolidation in European banking

ZURICH (Reuters) – Credit Suisse Chief Executive Thomas Gottstein expects more consolidation in Europe’s banking sector, he said on Tuesday, despite regulatory hurdles to cross-border deals.

“We have, on one side, negative interest rates, which will put further pressure on net interest margins for all players within the Swiss franc zone and the euro zone and other European countries. At the same time, many countries are over-banked,” Gottstein said during the virtual Bank of America Merrill Lynch Annual Financials CEO Conference.

“So, consolidation, I think will continue,” he said, adding he expected to see both cross-border as well as in-market deals.

Despite increased hurdles related to heightened regulatory requirements and too-big-to-fail measures, the Credit Suisse executive said such deals “make a lot of sense” in principle.

(Reporting by Brenna Hughes Neghaiwi, editing by John Revill)