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An incident at Credit Suisse is pushing the issue of macho culture, which investment banks are seeking to stamp out, back into the spotlight. finews.com looks at where the no-tolerance policy stands.

The incident began as a silly season rumor, but ended on a bitter note: a high-ranking investment banker at Credit Suisse in New York was fired on the spot in July, as finews.com also reported. Media reports at the time even leaked the name of the fired executive, which in the prevailing mood surrounding the #metoo debate in the U.S. meant in reality a career ban for the 37-year-old managing director.

The details of the episode still remain unclear. Initially the talk was of a molesting of young woman trainee during an office outing, the later the news agency «Bloomberg» wrote about repeated aggressive behavior towards junior staff – including men. The banker acted like a «bully».

Immediately the expression «bro culture», which in the closely regulated and supervised world of post-financial banking should have been eliminated, began doing the rounds.

Wild Parties, Veritable Gangs

This culture came to represent all the excesses associated with investment bankers before the financial crisis hit: Throwing money around and wild parties à la «Wolf of Wall Street». But most especially a testosterone-laden office environment, where the alpha-male, given the money he was earning for the bank, did as he liked.

The type of behavior which prevailed on trading floors and how little heed was paid to compliance by highly paid finance experts came to light after the financial- and currency exchange market revelations after 2008. In online chats traders formed virtual gangs, mocking the abuse of banking rules.

A policy of zero tolerance was introduced after the billion-dollar fines imposed for market manipulation on banks like UBS and Credit Suisse. While algorithms search ceaselessly for signs of fraud, staff were rigorously schooled in the banks’ «code of conduct», and Credit Suisse CEO Tidjane Thiam even hinted last year that breaches of this code could have bonus implications.

Public Pressure Needed

And yet episodes like the New York incident showed the «bro culture» is still alive and kicking. The fired banker will have simply believed his status and success allowed him to behave as he liked towards colleagues – and the bank appears to have tolerated it for much of his 13 years at Credit Suisse, including a recent promotion to MD for his work on the $63 billion Bayer-Monsanto deal.

Apparently the incident remained under wraps until the Credit Suisse trainee turned to the U.S. banking portal «Dealbreaker» and aired their grievance. Only then did the post-crisis rules kick in, and the perpetrator found himself out on the street, «named and shamed».