The decision to merge the two units could be announced as soon as Thursday when Credit Suisse reports its second-quarter results, according to a report by «Bloomberg», which cited sources that remained unidentified.

Risk and compliance units are also expected to be combined, the report added.

Bid to Simplify the Structure

This follows reports earlier this month that CEO Thomas Gottstein was mulling group-wide restructuring for simplification and streamlining purposes and reverse earlier changes implemented by his predecessor, Tidjane Thiam.

Rumors claimed that the new chief was aiming to merge Credit Suisse’s businesses into as little as three units, from the current five, which could potentially include reductions in its private banking business. The latest report echoes the same line of thinking to reduce the number of regional reports under new wealth head Philipp Wehle and undo a structure built just two years ago by predecessor Iqbal Khan.

Better Controls

Boosting the top line aside, the bank will also seek to improve internal controls after facing risk to its reputation following exposure to a series of accounting scandals.

Credit Suisse provided a margin loan for Lu Zhengyao founder of Luckin Coffee which was spotlighted earlier this year for inflating sales figures by over $300 million. The bank also helped sell $1 billion in Wirecard-linked securities last year in the midst of suspected accounting fraud which eventually led the firm to file for insolvency last month.

«Our strategy works,» Credit Suisse said in a statement to «Bloomberg». «We are a leading, global wealth manager with strong investment banking capabilities. On an ongoing basis, we consider a broad range of options to identify ways to further improve how we serve our clients and achieve our strategic goals in a compliant, profitable way. We are in a constant dialogue on these topics with our investors.»