Credit Suisse chief earns $9.8 mln after praise over U.S. tax case

(Recasts with CEO pay)

By Katharina Bart

ZURICH, March 20 (Reuters) - Outgoing Credit Suisse Group AG (CS) boss Brady Dougan maintained his pay in the past year, taking home 9.7 million Swiss francs ($9.8 million) after the American executive earned praise for settling a long-running U.S. tax probe.

CS had said last month its top staff would take a voluntary pay cut after the U.S. probe, but did not disclose what its executives would earn for the year. Dougan's 2014 earnings are therefore less than originally planned even though he received a similar total to the previous year.

Dougan, set to be replaced in June by Prudential Plc (HKSE: 2378.HK - news) head Tidjane Thiam, was praised by CS's board for bolstering the bank's capital and financial standing and for his handling of the U.S. tax penalty.

"As a particular achievement in 2014, the Compensation Committee acknowledged Mr. Dougan's strong leadership in managing the U.S. cross-border settlement and its consequences," the board wrote in the bank's annual report.

Dougan earned 101 percent of his targeted bonus, including 1.5 million francs in an unrestricted cash bonus, even after the voluntary cut. His total pay is slightly less than that of Sergio Ermotti, who runs crosstown rival UBS (NYSEArca: FBGX - news) and who earned 11.16 million francs last year.

CS also said it had sharply cut the money it set aside for costly ongoing legal issues after settling an investigation last May into its role in helping Americans evade taxes, by pleading guilty to a U.S. criminal charge and paying more than $2.5 billion in penalties.

But the bank, still mired in various potentially costly legal disputes, still allowed more than 1 billion francs at the end of 2014 to cover likely expenses from probes and investigations. Those include allegations of price-fixing in the credit default swaps market and a probe of alternative trading venues known as dark pools.

The bank had not said how much it would set aside against future legal disputes until Friday's annual report.

CS also said it will ask shareholders for the right to issue new shares, to pay a stock or "scrip" dividend but also to underpin its financial firepower for dealmaking and other investment plans.

A spokesman declined comment on acquisition plans.

If investors back the plan at its April 24 meeting, authorized capital could stand at 100 million shares after allowing for the scrip dividend, or roughly 2.5 billion francs at current market prices. ($1 = 0.9885 Swiss francs) (Editing by Maria Sheahan and David Holmes)