The ratings on Credit Suisse Group (CSG) reflect the group's progress in addressing structural issues, which contributed to its improved performance and return to profitability in 2003. Although CSG's operating environment has stabilized, ongoing cost initiatives continue to be offset by lower revenue generation, primarily in the investment bank, Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB; A+/Stable/A-1). In this context, Standard&Poor's expects the improvement in CSG's consolidated core earnings to be increasingly supported by sustained growth in private banking revenues, stability in its corporate and retail banking activity, and expected continued improvement in the performance of the Winterthur group (Winterthur). The ratings remain underpinned by CSG's sound asset quality, continued strong liquidity, and improving capitalization. Although substantially improved compared with
