Only in Switzerland.
Credit Suisse decided to punish its top management last year at bonus time by giving them, instead the regular bonuses, shares in the apparently worthless "toxic" assets that brought the financial system to its knees. Over a year ago.
Turns out the shares weren't so toxic after all.
The fund assets originally included debt of a Japanese shopping center, a mining company and a U.S. supermarket chain.
When the fund was unveiled in January, 2009 Credit Suisse bankers groused about the plan, fearing the securities would register few gains. Some bankers argued that they hadn't contributed to Credit Suisse's 2008 net loss. A number of them had hoped for cash bonuses instead.
But Credit Suisse's timing now appears impeccable. The fund's 72% increase for 2009 compares with a 23.5% rise in the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index and an 18.8% gain in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Credit Suisse shares rose 60% over 2009.
Roughly 2,000 investment bankers at the Zurich-based bank, who were told of the pool's performance on Tuesday, can't withdraw from the fund until 2014, but will receive some semiannual interest payments. ...WSJ
