* CEO says could make "material dividend payments"
* Sees opportunities for tactical buys
* Not interested in pursuing private banking buys in U.S.
* UBS CEO memo says U.S. wealth management not for sale
* Credit Suisse shares rise 1.7 percent
(Adds detail, background)
ZURICH, Oct 1 (Reuters) - Credit Suisse's solid performance during the financial crisis has left it in a position of capital strength that could allow it to make acquisitions and return capital to shareholders.
Chief Executive Brady Dougan told a Bank of America Merrill Lynch banking conference in London on Thursday its relatively strong position could allow it to make "material dividend payments".
He also said he saw opportunities for "tactical" acquisitions and the Swiss bank had the capital for buys.
"We have good bandwidth to handle the integration of some of these businesses so we will look at that opportunistically," he said, adding the bank would be "prudent and careful".
Shares in Credit Suisse were up 1.7 percent at 58.50 Swiss francs at 1259 GMT, outperforming a 0.6 percent weaker DJ Stoxx European banking index.
Asked if the bank might be interested in UBS's U.S. wealth management operations, Dougan said he was not interested in private banking buys outside Switzerland, including the United States, although he did want to grow more in the U.S. market.
Speculation has been rife about UBS's plans for its U.S. wealth management unit Paine Webber and was stoked again on Tuesday after chief executive Oswald Gruebel was quoted as saying in the FT it is not a core part of the bank's operations.
However, Gruebel told staff in an internal memo obtained by Reuters on Thursday that the board was committed to the business and it was not for sale.
"We have had offers, but we have not taken any of them seriously," he said.
UBS bought U.S. brokerage Paine Webber in 2000 for about $10 billion and merged it into UBS Americas, its U.S wealth management subsidiary, but the financial crisis and a damaging U.S. tax fraud probe has forced it to pare back the business.
Credit Suisse, which has overtaken UBS as Switzerland's largest bank in terms of market capitalisation, was able decline government aid in the crisis and has one of the strongest capital ratios in the industry.
"We believe that thanks to our strong platform... we can outgrow the market across all regions," Dougan said, in a webcast of the presentation in London. "We feel pretty good about where we are, stacking up against the competition."
He said the bank's once struggling asset management business had the potential to make a significant contribution to earnings over time, now it was restored to profitability.
He added about a third of the bumper first-half revenues the investment bank business recorded as markets rebounded were at risk of a slowdown if the environment returned to normal.
Credit Suisse was well positioned amid tightening international bank regulation in the wake of the crisis as it has already adjusted its strategy as Switzerland had moved early to introduce stricter rules, Dougan said. (Reporting by Emma Thomasson; Editing by Hans Peters)