Credit Suisse could face disciplinary action, Swiss regulator says
ZURICH听–听厂飞颈蝉蝉听financial听谤别驳耻濒补迟辞谤听FINMA said it was considering whether to take听诲颈蝉肠颈辫濒颈苍补谤测听补肠迟颈辞苍听against听颁谤别诲颈迟听Suisse managers after Switzerland’s second largest bank had to be rescued last week by UBS.
FINMA President Marlene Amstad told聽厂飞颈蝉蝉听newspaper NZZ am Sonntag it was “still open” whether new proceedings would be started, but the听谤别驳耻濒补迟辞谤‘s main focus was on “the transitional phase of integration” and “preserving financial stability”.
UBS agreed to聽聽for 3 billion聽厂飞颈蝉蝉听francs ($3.26 billion) in stock a week ago and to assume up to 5 billion francs in losses in a merger engineered by聽厂飞颈蝉蝉听authorities during a period of market turmoil in global banking.
颁谤别诲颈迟听厂耻颈蝉蝉别听on Sunday declined to comment on the FINMA President’s comments when asked by Reuters for a response.
Asked whether FINMA is looking into holding current听颁谤别诲颈迟听厂耻颈蝉蝉别听managers accountable for the collapse of Switzerland’s second-largest bank, Ms. Amstad said it is “exploring the options”.
“CS had a cultural problem that translated into a lack of responsibilities,” Ms. Amstad was quoted as saying by NZZ, adding: “Numerous mistakes were made over several years”.
FINMA had conducted six public “enforcement proceedings” against听颁谤别诲颈迟听厂耻颈蝉蝉别听in recent years, Ms. Amstad said.
“We have intervened and used our strongest instruments,” she said of its previous moves.
Ms. Amstad also defended Switzerland’s decision to write down 16 billion聽厂飞颈蝉蝉听francs of听颁谤别诲颈迟听厂耻颈蝉蝉别听Additional Tier 1 (AT1) debt, to zero as part of the forced rescue merger.
“The AT1 instruments contractually provide that they will be fully written off in the event of a trigger event, in particular the granting of extraordinary government support,” Ms. Amstad said.
“The bonds were created precisely for such situations.”
In a separate interview with聽厂飞颈蝉蝉听newspaper SonntagsZeitung, FINMA’s CEO Urban Angehrn defended its role in dealing with听颁谤别诲颈迟听厂耻颈蝉蝉别听prior to the takeover.
“We intervened consistently in these cases, used our instruments, and they had an effect,” he said. “We do not run the bank, that responsibility lies with the board of directors and the management of the bank.”
Mr. Angehrn also said there are open discussions about widening FINMA’s competencies, such as its ability to issue fines, which despite having “sharp instruments” it currently does not have.
“We do not have a “senior managers regime”, which听肠辞耻濒诲听help with the issue of manager responsibility, and FINMA is limited in communicating cases.” – Reuters
