Credit Suisse saw a slowing of inflows to its private banking business in the fourth quarter of last year, according to newspaper NZZ am Sonntag.

Walter Berchtold, Credit Suisse’s head of private banking, told the Suisse paper: “There were inflows in the fourth quarter. But we noticed that many clients had to pay back loans. That slowed the inflow of new money."

Mr Berchtold is also reported to have said that Credit Suisse had bought back almost SFr100 million in Lehman Brothers products from clients, and that of the 2,000 clients offered this option only 11 had declined.  In addition, clients with assets up to SFr500,000 and a larger than 50 per cent proportion of Lehman Brothers’ products in their portfolios would receive compensation, he said.

Mr Berchtold also revealed that the bank’s clients had exposure of around SFr1 billion to Bernard Madoff, the alleged Wall Street Fund fraudster, but added that Credit Suisse had not actively sold his products and Madoff was not part of any active fund of funds.

Credit Suisse could report a full-year loss of up to SFr6 billion ($5.25 billion) in its results statement due out on 11 February, Reuters reported, citing a story in the Handelszeitung newspaper.

The newspaper quoted an unnamed senior Credit Suisse banker as saying the bank made a trading loss of about SFr1 billion per week in October and a 2008 loss of SFr6 billion.

However, Credit Suisse, Switzerland’s second biggest bank, has improved its domestic market share amid the troubles of UBS.  Swiss newspapers have said that in its February results UBS will record an overall loss in 2008 of SFr20 billion ($18 billion), in spite of showing a profit of SFr296 million in the third quarter.