The Swiss financial regulator Finma is considering starting proceedings against the managers of Credit Suisse. Last week, Switzerland’s second largest bank was bailed out by competitor UBS. This is reported by the Reuters news agency on Sunday.
The takeover suddenly brought an end to the years of rivalry between the two banks. Tempers ran high earlier when Credit Suisse had several UBS employees chased in 2019. Many others followed this espionage scandal. The Greensill affair turned out to be the final blow to the bank. The bank lost billions to possible frauds at hedge fund Archegos Capital Management and trade financier Greensill. It is therefore not the first time that Credit Suisse has had to deal with regulator Finma.
Company culture
According to Finma president Marlene Amstad, it is not yet certain that proceedings will be started. This is reported by the Swiss newspaper NZZ am Sonntag. According to the regulator, the focus is now on the ‘transition phase’ and the ‘maintenance of financial stability.’ It is also not yet clear whether managers are held responsible for the collapse of the Swiss banking giant. She does say that Credit Suisse had a problem with their corporate culture. “That translated into a lack of responsibility,” she says. According to Amstad, ‘an awful lot of mistakes were made.’
UBS agreed to buy Credit Suisse a week ago for 3 billion Swiss francs (around 3 billion euros) in shares. The bank also agreed to absorb up to 5 billion francs in losses. According to UPS CEO Ralph Hamers, it is important to regain confidence in the Swiss banking sector. According to him, the goal is to restore the reputation of the financial world as quickly as possible, according to Reuters.
