Credit Suisse’s chief executive said he hoped to begin issuing billions of dollars in contingent-capital bonds in the next year to help shore up the bank’s financial strength well ahead of new Swiss regulations.

Brady Dougan, top executive since 2007, also defended Credit Suisse’s decision to award one-off payments to about 400 senior employees whose bonuses had been slashed to avoid a 50 per cent supertax on bonuses over ￡25,000 ($39,500), arguing that the bank had to head off rivals’ attempts to poach staff.

While Credit Suisse has until 2019 to meet new contingent capital rules, Mr Dougan told the Financial Times that he would aim to issue so-called “coco” bonds soon to assure investors and regulators that there was adequate demand for the debt.