Scandalous Swiss bank: Credit Suisse takes action against further greensill

The major Swiss bank Credit Suisse, which has been plagued by numerous scandals, has responded to a request for information from the Ethos Foundation about the Greensill affair and to media reports about alleged customer relationships with controversial rulers and criminals.

In the statements available on the website on Monday, the institute said that it had taken measures to avoid a scenario similar to the losses with the Greensill funds in the future, such as spinning off the Credit Suisse Asset Management (CSAM) division as its own business unit.

Ethos and other owners approached Credit Suisse last week and requested a special audit.

The bank intends to put the proposal to shareholders for a vote at the April 29 general meeting, but the board of directors recommends rejecting the proposal.

In its replies, the board of directors pointed out that a total of ten employees were laid off because of the Greensill losses and the associated reputational damage.

Warnings were issued

for other employees.

The 2021 bonus was canceled for the dismissed

employees, and it was reduced for the warned employees.

As far as legally possible, previously promised bonuses have also been canceled for the dismissed employees.

In addition, the Board of Directors stated that structures and processes within CSAM

were optimized as part of a comprehensive program.

The funds were examined according to similar constellations.

Employees' awareness of reputational and economic risks has been heightened through training measures.

The leadership of Credut Suisse is also under pressure because of other scandals.

In the last financial year, it made a loss of CHF 1.6 billion, while other major European banks reported high profits.

The main reason for the loss of billions is the debacle surrounding the New York hedge fund Archegos, which cost Credit Suisse a total of CHF 4.8 billion.

An investigation report published last summer confirmed that the bank had a “fundamental failure” of risk controls in this case.

The Swiss financial regulator Finma is examining the behavior of the bank in the Greensill case in a special audit.

The funds set up with the help of the insolvent supply chain financier Greensill must be liquidated.

The bank is trying to collect over $2 billion in outstanding debts from its customers.