ZURICH, Switzerland, Sept. 12, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- Credit Suisse Group (NYSE:CSR) (Other OTC:CSGKF) announced on August 5, 2003, that it would adopt the fair value based method of expensing future employee option awards and launch an Option Reduction Program, to be conducted on a value-for-value basis under applicable accounting rules with the aim of reducing the number of options outstanding.
Under the Option Reduction Program, which expired on September 9, 2003, 66.4 million of the 90.3 million options originally eligible for the Option Reduction Program were exchanged for 2.7 million new options with an exercise price of CHF 50.55 (10% above the CHF 45.95 closing price of the Credit Suisse Group share on September 5, 2003) as well as 19.9 million phantom/blocked registered shares, each with a market value of CHF 45.95.
As a result of the Option Reduction Program, the total number of Credit Suisse Group options outstanding has been reduced from 132.3 million to 68.6 million options.
Credit Suisse Group
Credit Suisse Group is a leading global financial services company headquartered in Zurich. The business unit Credit Suisse Financial Services provides private clients and small and medium-sized companies with private banking and financial advisory services, banking products, and pension and insurance solutions from Winterthur. The business unit Credit Suisse First Boston, an investment bank, serves global institutional, corporate, government and individual clients in its role as a financial intermediary. Credit Suisse Group's registered shares (CSGN) are listed in Switzerland and Frankfurt, and in the form of American Depositary Shares (CSR) in New York. The Group employs around 64,000 staff worldwide. As of June 30, 2003, it reported assets under management of CHF 1,234.2 billion.
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The press release can be downloaded from the following link: http://reports.huginonline.com/917143/123008.pdf