Letter: BZW deal

Sir: You published an article on 14 November purporting to describe a video conference of our managing directors that took place the previous day. Let us set the record straight.

We are pleased to have agreed to acquire the European equity and investment banking business of BZW, which we regard as a high-quality and complementary addition. We are also conscious of the hard work and substantial investment needed to integrate the two firms successfully. Your partisan references to glorying, boasting and the like are mischievous and dangerous.

You claim we forecast "mass [back-office] sackings". This is wholly untrue. We expect to employ several hundred BZW back-office staff whose skills we greatly value. Indeed, our need for the relevant back-office staff was a specific condition set by us during the negotiations.

STEPHEN HESTER

Chief Financial Officer

Credit Suisse First Boston

London E14