Investment bankers once turned their noses up at “plain vanilla” products. Yet Brady Dougan, Credit Suisse’s chief executive, on Thursday painted a picture of an investment banking future all but stripped of the exotic derivatives and highly leveraged products that dragged it into losses. Henceforth, the Swiss bank will emphasise client flows over proprietary trading, keep shrinking assets and attempt to deploy its capital better. About time. In spite of Mr Dougan’s previous assurances on the bank’s resilience, it must first cut fat. The “accelerated implementation” of its strategy will involve cutting 5,300 staff, mainly in the investment bank, and 1,400 contractors. The investment banking headcount will return to 2005 levels. The chairman, CEO and investment bank’s boss are forsaking their bonuses – but keep their jobs.

What prompted this sudden burst of speed? The severity of the market downturn in October, which had already triggered a SFr3bn loss by the end of November, left little alternative. Mr Dougan believes the bank is better placed now to weather the downturn. Sure, risk-weighted assets should fall to $170bn by the year-end, from $236bn a year ago, and daily value at risk has tailed off by 33 per cent since the third quarter. But Swiss bank veterans will recall UBS spun much the same story of reducing risk 10 years ago. Its return to a simpler model lasted barely a couple of years.