CS First Boston Boosts Cook, Salinger; Fate Of Mayer Hangs

Credit Suisse First Boston Corp. (CSFB) has fattened up the turfs of two its top technology executives. Managing director Bill Cook, who previously led the firm's equities trading technology effort, now has global oversight of CSFB's fixed-income technology. Meanwhile, managing director Ross Salinger -- whose role was previously limited to Credit Suisse's London-based derivatives unit Credit Suisse Financial Products (CSFP) -- has added global oversight for equities technology.

The moves continue CSFB's long-ongoing trend of detaching technology responsibility from its central technology group -- headed by chief information officer Charlie Mayer -- and lodging it with individual business units. But the Salinger and Cook reassignments seem also to add a new twist; they confirm that bank holding company Credit Suisse in fact desires some degree of centralization for front-office technology -- but wants it to emerge on a global scale.

First Boston technology officials decline to comment or couldn't be reached at press time. But according to other sources, word of Salinger's added areas of oversight emerged in a memo distributed at First Boston's New York offices about three weeks ago. The memo detailing Cook's reassignment was distributed at the firm nearer the turn of the year, sources say. A First Boston spokesperson says she has no knowledge of any such personnel changes and emphasizes that no internal memos on the subject have been issued.

The reshuffle leaves technologist Matt Lavicka as head of CSFB's North American equities technology in New York, reporting to Salinger. Lavicka previously reported to Cook. One source says that Salinger will, for the time being, remain primarily concerned with technology efforts within the CSFP derivatives unit and CSFB's Tokyo and London offices -- leaving oversight of North American equities systems primarily under the care of Lavicka. However, the Teknekron Software Systems Inc. data distribution system deployed at CSFP in London has already begun to be deployed in New York, to support CSFP-associated traders there (TST, Dec. 13, 1993).

On the fixed-income side, sources say that Cook has picked up direct-report Chip Steinmetz, who previously reported to CIO Charlie Mayer -- and who, through Mayer, was lately given a global mandate to focus on the bond group's systems (TST, Aug. 23, 1993). Sources say that it remains somewhat unclear what the reorganization means for Mayer; right now, it appears that Mayer retains oversight of global back- office technology only.

These sources say that Cook's reassignment from equities to fixed income was a big step up, giving him oversight of a much bigger technological enterprise supporting a much bigger chunk of the firm's revenue. Cook reports to the head of First Boston's fixed-income business unit, Bob Diamond. Salinger reports to the head of CSFP, as well to CSFB's equities trading unit head. Mayer reports to executive vice president of systems and operations Rob Raziano.