'''Credit Suisse Group AG''' ({{IPA-fr|kʁe.di sɥis}}, {{Literal translation|Swiss Credit}}) wasis a global [[Investment banking|investment bank]] <!-- Its investment banking arm is a separate institution to its financial services. They are separate components that add up to the diversified services of the company. Leave as "investment bank and financial services company".--> and [[financial services]] firm founded and based in [[Switzerland]]. Headquartered in [[Zürich]], it maintains offices in all [[Financial centre|major financial centers]] around the world and provides services in [[investment bank]]ing, [[private banking]], [[asset management]], and [[shared services]]. It is known for strict [[Bank secrecy|bank–client confidentiality]] and [[Banking in Switzerland|banking secrecy]]. The [[Financial Stability Board]] considers it to be a [[Systemically important financial institution|global systemically important bank]]. Credit Suisse is also a [[primary dealer]] and [[Forex]] counterparty of the [[Federal Reserve]] in the United States. <!--There is a purposeful lack of citations in the lead of this article as per WP:WHENNOTCITE. The standard allows the lead to remain relatively cite-less if all the information is sourced in the main body. If there is something not cited in the lead AND not cited in the body, please add a {{not found in body}} next to it so it can be addressed.-->
Credit Suisse was founded in 1856 to fund the development of [[Rail transport in Switzerland|Switzerland's rail system]]. It issued loans that helped create Switzerland's [[electrical grid]] and the [[Rail transport in Europe|European rail system]]. In the 1900s, it began shifting to [[retail banking]] in response to the elevation of the middle class and competition from fellow Swiss banks [[UBS]] and [[Julius Baer Group|Julius Bär]]. Credit Suisse partnered with [[First Boston]] in 1978 before buying a controlling share of the bank in 1988. From 1990 to 2000, the company purchased institutions such as [[Winterthur Group]], Swiss Volksbank, Swiss American Securities Inc. (SASI), and [[Bank Leu]].
