A class action lawsuit filed by AT1 bondholders seeks to bring former Credit Suisse executives before a New York court. Excessive risk-taking and bonus culture are blamed.
A group of European bondholders of Credit Suisse affected by the bank's $17 billion writedown on AT1 bonds as part of the takeover deal with UBS is suing former executives of the bank. Bondholders from Paris, Luxembourg, and the channel island of Guernsey argue that self-serving executives pursued excessively risky trades for short-term returns and bonuses by resorting to unethical and illegal practices to gain and retain sales.
The lawsuit cites a broken culture and a series of scandals, according to a «Bloomberg» (behind paywall) story. Among the defendants are ex-CEOs Brady Dougan and Tidjane Thiam and former investment bank managers.
Incompetence and Racketeering?
A study commissioned by Credit Suisse itself from the law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison states the bank was fatally plagued by incompetence and crookedness. In addition, the top management was incapable or unwilling to overhaul the corrupt base. Thiam also failed to «roll back the influence of the US-focused investment banking» embedded in the bank's culture, the complaint says.
The complaint went on to say that «while Credit Suisse began as a conservative Swiss private bank, the vast majority of the people who were responsible for its demise were not staid Swiss bankers, but, rather, sharp-elbowed New York, investment bankers.»
