Sale of Swiss ice hockey champion’s shares was ‘above board’

Fribourg: no investigation into the sale of Fribourg-Gottéron shares Keystone-SDA

A transfer of shares in Swiss ice hockey champions Fribourg-Gottéron was carried out in accordance with regulations, the cantonal authorities have ruled.

The sale of shares in the ice hockey club by Fribourg Cantonal Bank (FCB) to a company owned by the family of the bank’s chair, Albert Michel, had come under scrutiny.

Following an investigation, the cantonal government has declared the matter closed. The sale of the FCB’s shares in Fribourg-Gottéron had been made to an entity controlled by the family of Albert Michel, the bank’s former head, who died in 2022.

A cantonal politician had raised questions about the legality of the transaction involving Michel, who died in 2022. The cantonal said that the transaction cannot “constitute insider dealing”, given that Michel had “formally recused himself from the discussions”.

Newspaper investigation

Debate centred on the valuation of HC Fribourg-Gottéron shares. But “the transaction did not give rise to any comments from the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA)”. The deal has resurfaced in recent weeks following an investigation by the newspaper La Liberté.

According to the newspaper, FCB had secretly sold almost all of its shares to Pimpco, a company owned by the family of Michel, who was then serving as chair of the bank and was recognised as a highly influential figure in the Fribourg economy.

In a response to another question from members of the cantonal parliament, the executive said that the sale price, which according to La Liberté was a token amount, reflected the value of a company that was in the red.

In the five years leading up to the transaction in early 2019, Fribourg-Gottéron had incurred an average annual loss of over CHF250,000.

According to the journalist who carried out the investigation, the stake sold to Pimpco represented some 20% of the share capital of the ice hockey club, which was crowned Swiss champions this year for the first time in its history.

The state-owned cantonal bank had previously saved the ailing club, which was on the brink of bankruptcy during the 2006–2007 season. The club had to write off a debt of CHF5.6 million. As a result, the bank became a major shareholder.

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Translated from French, reviewed by an English Department journalist.