Former Credit Suisse investment banking chief joins Santander

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Santander has agreed to hire the former co-head of Credit Suisse’s investment bank, David Miller, who becomes the latest executive to join from the collapsed Swiss lender.

Miller will join Santander’s New York office as vice-chair of its corporate and investment bank and report to its head, José Linares, from January, according to people familiar with the appointment.

Santander has already hired dozens of former Credit Suisse investment bankers this year and has set aside $250mn to build out its own investment bank over the next two years.

Miller, who left Credit Suisse when it was taken over by UBS over the summer, will be responsible for large client coverage and deal origination in his new role, according to people with knowledge of the agreement.

Santander, which is not an investment banking heavyweight, has hired more than 100 mostly US-based bankers this year, with about half coming from Credit Suisse.

Many of the new recruits from Credit Suisse have been personally recommended by Hector Grisi, who became Santander’s chief executive at the start of the year and had previously spent 18 years at the Swiss bank.

Last month, Santander’s executive chair Ana Botín told the Financial Times: “The chance to accelerate growth in the US was a logical opportunity for us. What we want is people who fit our culture.”

The Spanish lender’s ambition to grow its investment bank stands in stark contrast to Wall Street rivals, which this year have announced some of the biggest job cuts since the global financial crisis.

Santander’s plans are part of a long-term strategy of trying to leverage its network of corporate clients in Europe and the Americas by offering them a range of services, including access to capital markets and strategic advice.

Miller, who joined Credit Suisse in 1997, was one of a handful of senior executives whose departures were announced just hours after UBS completed the takeover of its stricken rival in June.

Michael Ebert, who ran Credit Suisse’s investment bank alongside Miller, was kept on and made sole head of the business as well as head of the Americas for UBS’s investment bank.

Miller and Ebert were installed as co-heads of Credit Suisse’s investment bank in 2022, soon after Ulrich Körner became chief executive with a mission to shrink down the accident-prone division.

Miller will join a raft of former colleagues at Santander, including David Hermer, who was global head of equity and debt capital markets at Credit Suisse and is now head of the Spanish bank’s CIB in the US.

Santander declined to comment. Miller did not respond to a request for comment by the time of publication.