Although the widely acknowledged banker quickly climbed the former Swiss institution's career ladder, she couldn't cheat fate – and a certain UBS lurking in the wings.
Francesca McDonagh is leaving Credit Suisse after exactly one year of service, according to an internal memo written by Ulrich Koerner, and obtained by finews.asia.
In the contents of the message, Koerner, who is running the bank as a UBS subsidiary, indicated the Irish executive decided to leave the institution to pursue other challenges. The «Financial Times» (behind paywall) maintains that she has agreed to join another company as CEO with an announcement to follow in January.
High Hopes
Expectations were high when McDonagh joined in September last year given she had spent the previous five years at the Bank of Ireland, leading it through the pandemic and returning it to full private ownership a decade after the financial crisis, according to the «Irish Times». She was initially hired by Credit Suisse to head its European business but was promoted to COO before starting, effectively becoming one of Koerner's key assistants.
But it ended at that. Although widely regarded as capable, it was believed she had far too much on her plate given she was responsible for not only IT and back-office functions, but strategy, marketing, communication, and human resources. In the end, there was little she could do to prevent Credit Suisse from being forced into the arms of UBS.
In June, UBS CEO Sergio Ermotti trusted her enough to keep her in the role of COO even though her days were likely already numbered.
New Reporting Lines
In hindsight, the position was redundant, particularly given that Koerner won't be appointing her replacement, instead relying on UBS executives who have newly created reporting lines to him.
That includes UBS head of communications Marsha Askins, integration specialist Dierk von Schuckmann, and group integration officer Michelle Bereaux. The same goes for Harald Egger, the head of corporate services and India country head, and Emma Crystal, who leads the client engagement and sustainable finance group.
