(Corrects date of IBA launch to summer 2020 (not summer 2021)

By Brenna Hughes Neghaiwi

ZURICH (Reuters) – Credit Suisse has appointed heads of its new investment banking advisory in Britain and France, the bank said on Tuesday, a business the lender is aiming to boost as part of a wider restructuring announced in November.

Oliver Tucker will be joining the bank as head of its Investment Banking Advisory in Britain from Thursday, a spokesperson told Reuters, while Philippe Guez took up the equivalent role in France earlier in January.

Switzerland’s second-largest lender announced a restructuring in November which involved paring back its investment bank and all but shuttering its prime brokerage business – a part of the division blamed for racking up $5.5 billion in losses when a client defaulted in March.

As part of the overhaul, the group said it would focus more resources within the investment bank on advisory services for entrepreneurs and the ultra-wealthy clientele of its flagship wealth management business.

The investment banking advisory (IBA) business was launched in summer 2020 to boost such services, with a focus on advising and executing smaller deals than those typically handled by an investment bank.

Tucker and Guez will report to IBA European co-heads Stefan Gratzer and Vincenzo De Falco.

Tucker will join Credit Suisse from Nomura, where he served as a managing director in the UK investment banking team, the bank said, while Guez joined from Atlas Financial Solutions, where he served as a partner for independent M&A advisory.

(This story corrects date of IBA launch to summer 2020 (not summer 2021).

(Reporting by Brenna Hughes Neghaiwi; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)