Credit Suisse shareholders refuse to let board off the hook

The image of Switzerland's second largest bank has been tarnished by a series of scandals. Keystone / Georgios Kefalas

Shareholders have refused to absolve Credit Suisse board members of legal liability after a series of bungles and court cases in recent years.

At an annual general meeting on Friday, a proposal to formally discharge directors of their responsibilities for the year 2020 was rejected by nearly 60% of votes.

Switzerland’s second largest bank has endured a miserable couple of years, racking up huge losses on the collapse of the Archegos hedge fund and Greensill Capital financing firm.

With the bank conducting an internal review of its performance last year, shareholders were not asked until this year to discharge the board for 2020 – which they rejected. However, the board of directors were discharged for the year 2021.

Chair Axel Lehmann expressed his disappointment at the vote and said the board would analyse the decision.

Having suffered a huge loss for the full year of 2021 and further red numbers in the first quarter of this year, Lehmann has vowed to make changes.

Vice-chair Severin Schwan has already withdrawn his name for re-election to the Credit Suisse board under pressure from disenchanted shareholders. Former Chair of the board António Horta-Osório was also forced to resign earlier this year for breaching Covid-19 lockdown measures.

This comes on top of a number of recent high-profile managerial changes at the bank.

But shareholders have also been upset by a series of strategic errors by the bank that have tarnished its reputation, cost investors’ money and drawn fire from the financial regulator.

Changes being made

Lehmann said these concerns are being addressed with a comprehensive revamp of the bank’s risk culture.

Shareholders rejected a proposal from the Ethos investor group for a special audit into the Greensill affair and the Suisse Secrets money laundering nedia allegations.  

Another Ethos proposal for the bank to outline in more detail how it will reduce exposure to fossil fuels was also rejected.