It is good to play to the crowd – and Credit Suisse’s new chief executive Tidjane Thiam didn’t disappoint in his first outing.

Thiam, who only arrived in June, left plenty of wriggle room on detail, but set a direction clear enough to tickle shareholders even with a mixed set of half-year results on Thursday. The stock jumped, meaning it is up more than 20% since Thiam's appointment was announced.