The legal aspect of Credit Suisse’s integration of its private banking subsidiary Clariden Leu has now been completed.

The Swiss banking group announced its intention to integrate Clariden Leu fully into the Credit Suisse brand in November last year. The merger will also make Clariden Leu Holding part of Credit Suisse Group.

The technical process of the merger is expected to be completed by the end of the year. Until then, any reference to Clariden Leu will legally be considered to be a reference to Credit Suisse.

When announcing the merger, the Swiss bank said that it would achieve annual cost savings of around SFr200 million ($221.7 million) and some job reductions that are part of a previously announced 3 per cent staffing reduction over two years.

The private banking arm of Credit Suisse logged a pre-tax income of SFr2.3 billion for 2011, a 31 per cent fall from 2010.

Meanwhile, it emerged last month that LGT Group, the Liechtenstein-based private bank, is set to take over the insurance-linked investments business of Clariden Leu for an undisclosed sum.