Switzerland’s financial sector regulator Finma admitted on Sunday that it is analyzing the possibility of holding Credit Suisse’s managers accountable for management errors that led to the bank’s collapse.
“We are not a judicial authority, but we are exploring opportunities for accountability,” said Marlene Amstad, president of Finma, in an interview published in the Swiss Sunday newspaper NZZ am Sonntag, in which she was highly critical of the activities of that bank’s management.
For Amstad, the capital and liquidity requirements of UBS – the financial entity that acquired Credit Suisse – must gradually increase amid fears that the size of the organization is disproportionate to its current liabilities.
UBS’ acquisition of Credit Suisse came on the heels of the banking turmoil in the United States, which led investors to sell securities of institutions considered weak links in the banking system, such as Credit Suisse, which had been piling up problems for two years.
“The social media storm is clearly not the cause of Credit Suisse’s troubles,” Amstad said, referring to Credit Suisse chairman Axel Lehman accusing the media of helping to sink the bank.
“The problem is rooted in several scandals and management errors in recent years. The bank already had a reputation and confidence crisis,” said Amstad, recalling that Credit Suisse’s problems were not limited to a single business sector, but rather “reflected a largely inadequate risk culture”.
The leader of the Swiss financial sector regulator acknowledges that Credit Suisse has a very large number of employees who did their jobs seriously and correctly.
“In the end, the bank went bankrupt due to many scandals and poor management decisions. For a long time, the bank’s management adhered to a high-risk strategy and could not properly manage those risks,” Amstad analyzed. .
“A flawed corporate culture and strategic errors of management by management cannot be completely eliminated by strict regulation,” Finman’s president concluded.
Source: DN
