RPT-PREVIEW-C.Suisse seen flying high in Q1, bonuses in focus

(Repeats to fix story link in 17th paragraph)

* C.Suisse seen posting Q1 net profit of 2 bln Sfr

* FX, fixed income seen boosting profit

* Bonus plan in the spotlight at AGM

* Client inflows may be hit by German tax inquiry

By Lisa Jucca

ZURICH, April 16 (Reuters) - Strong first-quarter results expected from Credit Suisse (CSGN.VX) on trading gains may not be enough to stop some angry shareholders from trying convince other investors to vote against the group's new bonus policy.

Credit Suisse (CS.N), Switzerland's second-largest bank, is expected to post a net profit of 2 billion Swiss francs when it reports results on Thursday, a Reuters poll showed, as the bank has kept up its momentum in investment banking. [ID:nL63F11D]

But Credit Suisse faces criticism from corporate governance advisors RiskMetrics and Ethos, which is also an investor in the bank, on its new compensation plan, written after the G-20 discussed curbs on bankers bonuses last fall.

RiskMetricks is advising shareholders to reject the pay structure at the bank's annual meeting on April 30, a copy of the analysis for investors on the website of newspaper Tages-Anzeiger showed.

Ethos did the same in its analysis, an Ethos spokesman said.

Hefty forex trading gains and improved fixed-income trading at UBS (UBSN.VX)(UBS.N) and JP Morgan (JPM.N) prompted some analysts to revise upwards their estimates for Credit Suisse.

"We revise our first-quarter fixed income trading revenue estimate for Credit Suisse upwards from 1.7 billion Swiss francs to 2 billion Swiss francs and adjust our 2010 estimates accordingly," said Vontobel analyst Teresa Nielsen.

The mean average for total trading profit is 3.1 billion in the Reuters poll.

Credit Suisse shares hit their highest level in nearly five months on Friday on the back of improved earnings expectations, traders said, taking the shine off a nine-week stock rally at rival UBS. [ID:nLDE63F0X5]

JP Morgan set the bar high for its peers as it thrashed analysts expectations for its first-quarter results thanks to investment banking gains. [ID:nN14181674]

UBS surprised investors on Monday by announcing its fourth quarter pretax profit would be at least 2.5 billion francs and that client withdrawals had slowed. [ID:nLDE61802M]

GERMAN TAX ROW

Analysts said they expected inflows from wealthy clients of Credit Suisse to be hit slightly by news that German tax authorities had got hold of a stolen CD containing a list of names of customers with the bank.

Nielsen expects client inflows for Credit Suisse's wealth management division to slow to 7 billion francs in the first quarter of this year, against 11 billion in the previous quarter.

But JP Morgan analysts said in their research note that this business was resilient and the bank had been able to win market share without losing margins.

"The private bank had performed very strongly relative to peers during and after the financial crisis, maintaining a strong growth in net new assets despite the negative news flow regarding Swiss private banking in general," the note said.

Chief Executive Brady Dougan, who steered the bank through the crisis without state aid, became one of the highest paid international bankers when he was awarded shares worth around 71 million Swiss francs in a five-year incentive plan. [ID:nLDE62U1XM]

Contrary to crisis-hit rival UBS, Credit Suisse posted a profit in 2009. But bankers' bonuses have become a major concern for investors and nearly 40 percent of shareholders voted down UBS' 2009 bonus plan at their annual meeting. [ID:nLDE63D0E6]

Credit Suisse has introduced an incentive plan, known as SISU, that RiskMetrics says is opaque and not in line with the Swiss corporate governance code. Credit Suisse has rejected this criticism saying its has provided extensive unformation on its programme.

In addition, RiskMetrics and Ethos have complained that the bank's compensation committee is not independent and have recommend shareholders vote against re-election of committee head Aziz Syriani. (Editing by Karen Foster)