Credit Suisse to overhaul structure Credit Suisse has set out plans for an overhaul of its legal structure, in an effort to satisfy regulators" demands that big banks should be easier to break up in a crisis. In legal terms, the Swiss group currently consists of a branch network, which mainly caters for its private banking business, and three main subsidiaries - two in London and one in the US - which are primarily for investment banking activities. However, in an important shift, the bank will set up a Swiss subsidiary, which will house its Swiss-booked activities - private banking, as well as retail, corporate and institutional business - effectively ringfencing the unit from its riskier global investment banking operations. In addition, Credit Suisse will combine its two London subsidiaries and transfer its US derivatives business, which is currently booked in London, to its US subsidiary. The bank stressed, however, that London would remain the hub for its European investment banking operations. The move follows a similar announcement by Credit Suisse's domestic counterpart UBS, which said last month that it was planning to set up a Swiss subsidiary from 2015, to house its retail, corporate and Swiss-booked wealth management activities. Under Swiss banking rules, the two big banks can lower the amount of regulatory capital they are required to hold by shrinking their balance sheets or making their various businesses easier to separate in a crisis. Credit Suisse said it was possible that the changes to its legal structure - which still have to be approved by regulators - would lead to such a rebate, although it gave no indication of how large this might be. Since the collapse of Lehman Brothers five years ago, the question of how to reduce the threat posed by the failure of a large multinational bank has vexed policy makers around the world. However, the debate has particular resonance in Switzerland, which had to bail out its largest bank, UBS, during the financial crisis, and where the banking sector's balance sheet is about four times the size of the national economy. Earlier this month, Switzerland's finance minister, Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf, suggested that the country's leverage rules, already among the toughest in the world, should be tightened further, acknowledging that this could make some investment banking activities impossible to pursue. During the country's most recent parliamentary session, officials from both ends of the political spectrum put forward motions that the government should revisit the idea of separating retail and investment banking activities.