The Swiss bank's new chairman is demonstratively propping up CEO Thomas Gottstein, but sending a message the embattled lender can do without right now, finews.asia finds.
António Horta-Osório followed up his solo performance in a glossy Swiss business journal with a joint interview with Credit Suisse CEO Thomas Gottstein in a Sunday tabloid. The message was the same: the Swiss bank's new chairman firmly supports his CEO, Gottstein.
Sunday's version was «I can say with certainty that Thomas Gottstein enjoys the full backing of the board,» Horta-Osório, a 57-year-old Portuguese and British banker, told the weekly.
Turning Back Time?
The Swiss charm offensive – via relatively friendly media – is an attempt to smooth ruffled feathers following a «Financial Times» piece widely viewed as damaging to Gottstein. However, Gottstein can't turn back time: the dual disasters of Greensill, as well as Credit Suisse's more than $5 billion in losses on Archegos' insolvency, happened on his watch; for investors, these two episodes are his to own.
As long as Credit Suisse is still fighting to recoup what it can from the wreckage of Greensill, he is viewed as a CEO on borrowed time – especially since the crippling comments made by a person apparently close to Horta-Osório. The chairman, in turn, is expected to lead a meticulous clean-up and direct Credit Suisse to a new strategy.
Damp Squib Revamp
Horta-Osório is mum on the strategy itself, studiously managing expectations instead: Credit Suisse wouldn't require the radical style of a shake-up that he undertook when he joined Lloyds in 2011, he told the Sunday tabloid.
But most importantly, Gottstein is the right person for the strategic redo: while this is of course good news for the veteran investment banker who was installed as CEO last February, it also signals that Horta-Osório's fresh start might be a damp squib.
Swiss Vs Foreign Heavyweights
With his backing and avowals, Horta-Osório is squandering more momentum that would come in awfully handy at Switzerland's second-largest bank. On Monday, Credit Suisse's stock filliped, but the shares have lost one-fifth of their value thus far this year and trade below book value.
In view of the turbulence facing Credit Suisse – and its valuation – Horta-Osório's remarks in the Swiss press look misguided: Credit Suisse is a globally active bank with a fragmented investor base dominated by foreigners and in particular sovereign wealth funds like Qatar. The bank's fate is going to be decided at global trading venues in the Middle East and Wall Street – not at a Swiss newsstand.
The coziness and networks of tiny Switzerland, where Credit Suisse is second to Bahnhofstrasse rival UBS, take time to understand. Horta-Osório isn't alone in this: Brady Dougan, a Midwesterner who ran Credit Suisse from 2007 to 2015, never fully warmed to the alpine nation.
«Swissness» Sought
His successor Tidjane Thiam, a French-Ivorian executive, was a bigger fan of Switzerland, even floating the idea of naturalizing. Thiam's departure in the wake of the tawdry «spygate» scandal laid bare the clash of culture and race during his tenure, sitting uncomfortably with Credit Suisse's efforts to portray itself as a diverse, inclusive employer.
Horta-Osório, seeking the «Suisse» in the bank's name, mixes messages somewhat in first buying 1 million Swiss francs ($1.1 million), then purchasing a home in a tax haven outside of Zurich.
