Credit Suisse aims to benefit from UBS weakness in U.S: report

ZURICH (Reuters) - Credit Suisse Group AG (CSGN.VX) aims to benefit from rival UBS AG's (UBSN.VX) weakness in the United States, its chief executive said in an interview published on Thursday.

When asked by Swiss magazine L'Hebdo if Credit Suisse's strategy in the United States was to replace UBS, the bank's CEO Brady Dougan said: "Yes. We are benefiting from an opportunity.

"My opinion is that the American market is more and more interested in our approach, notably in private banking. The Credit Suisse brand is solidly established in the United States, where we have registered important new money inflows," Dougan said.

UBS has been worse hit by the financial crisis than Credit Suisse and the two banks took emergency measures this month to shore up their finances.

When asked if Credit Suisse had held talks with UBS about a merger, Dougan said he believed Switzerland needed two large and solid banks and that the best strategy for Credit Suisse was to remain independent.

(Reporting by Sam Cage, editing by Will Waterman)