Has the former director of Credit Suisse, Tidjane Thiam, been the victim of racism?

Tidjane Thiam, in 2019, in Zurich.

Ennio Leanza / Keystone via AP

Text by: Olivier Rogez Follow

4 min

In its edition of last weekend, the New York Times looks back on the ousting of Tidjane Thiam from Credit Suisse.

The American daily suggests that the Franco-Ivorian would have been treated differently by the Swiss banking establishment if he had been white.

Publicity

Read more

There are things that bankers wish they could lock up in a safe and forget about forever.

last February from his post as CEO of Credit Suisse will remain as one of the less glorious episodes of Zurich banking sagas.

Accused of having spied on some of his collaborators, the Ivorian banker was forced to resign after a term of less than five years.

Would the affair have had an opposite epilogue if Tidjane Thiam had had a different skin color?

This is what the

suggests,

which relates the "

" of the banker and his "

" from an establishment that he had nevertheless helped to redress.

"

says the American newspaper

".

Sneaky attacks and racist comments 

To support this thesis, the

relies on a series of incidents supposed to demonstrate the prevailing racism of the Zurich business community.

Public words of a shareholder offended by the presence of a manager associated with “the Third World”, sneaky attacks by part of the Zurich press, the

also traces the growing unease of Tidjane Thiam who felt rejected by the establishment.

One event in particular spilled ink, it is the birthday party organized in honor of the president of Credit Suisse, Urs Rohner, in November 2019, in a large restaurant in Zurich where friends and collaborator are gathered. of the CEO.

Tidjane Thiam is the only black guest.

The theme of the evening was "Studio 54", this famous New York nightclub from the seventies.

Suddenly, a black artist disguised as a sweeper takes the stage and sweeps while dancing.

Tidjane Thiam gets up and leaves the room, he will come back some time later to find that some of his colleagues, afro wigs on their heads, are jiggling on the dance floor.

The incident reported by the

prompted an apology last Monday from Credit Suisse.

In the columns of the British daily,

, the bank justifies itself and affirms "

".

A disproportionate sanction?

Beyond these facts, the

recalls that in the banking world, it is rare for internal scandals to result in such a heavy sanction.

Because if Tidjane Thiam has resigned, there is no doubt that he was pushed there, following the revelations on the spying of one of his former collaborators, suspected by Credit Suisse of wanting to poach his staff.

The

recalls that for similar facts, an English banker was not worried in 2016. If he had been White, would Tidjane Thiam have survived this affair?

Yes, thinks the

.

The article is in any case coughing part of the Zurich press.

As the Swiss daily

relates

, a certain “

” is currently running through the editorial staff of German-speaking Switzerland, which considers the accusations of racism “

”.

Le

, quoted by

believes that “

”.

The denial is commensurate with the turmoil caused by the

.

It remains to be seen whether or not this case will lead to changes in behavior.

However, it should be noted, as the

that Credit Suisse says it has signed several charters to promote diversity within its group, especially in the United States.

In England, a policy of zero tolerance towards racism has even been implemented.

Newsletter

Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox

I subscribe

Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application

google-play-badge_FR

• Racism

• Ivory Coast

• Swiss

• Finance

• our selection