Credit Suisse CEO quits

Muehlemann succumbs to market pressure as Credit Suisse stock tumbles 54 percent this year

ZURICH, Switzerland (CNN) -- Lukas Muehlemann has decided to step down as the chief executive and chairman of Credit Suisse Group amid growing pressure to turn around Switzerland's second biggest bank.

Muehlemann, 52, had agreed to leave his post as chairman in April 2003 but planned to stay on as the CEO. Now he will stand down from both posts at the end of this year, the Swiss financial services group said on Thursday.

Walter Kielholz, the chief executive of reinsurer Swiss Re, will replace Muehlemann as chairman. Oswald Gruebel, head of private-banking and insurance businesses, and John Mack, the head of investment bank Credit Suisse First Boston, are to take over as co-chief executives.

"By taking this step, I hope to better position Credit Suisse Group for future success by removing any questions surrounding my leadership of the company," Muehlemann said in a statement.

Muhlemann was under intense pressure from investors and analysts to step down after he spent billions of Swiss francs expanding operations by buying insurance and investment banking businesses.

But falling stock markets have forced Credit Suisse to cut the value of its assets at insurer Winterthur and investors are now questioning its strategy of combining banking and insurance businesses. Insurers are vulnerable to falling markets because they erode their holdings of stocks, which are used to meet claims.

The company's stock has more than halved over the course of this year as stock markets continue to tumble. In August, Credit Suisse suffered a bigger-than-expected loss of 579 million Swiss francs ($386.8 million) in the three months to June 30. Credit Suisse blamed the decline in profit on the falling value of investments held by its insurance businesses.

Muehlemann joined Credit Suisse Group as CEO in 1997 from Swiss Re and took over the chairmanship of the board in May 2000.