Under scrutiny by the banking overseer, Raiffeisen is reorganizing its top management. The biggest change? A move to sideline the cooperative lender's chief lawyer – who is also the former CEO's wife.
Raiffeisen said it will reinforce its top management from January 1 by setting up a risk and compliance department. The new role, which the St. Gallen-based cooperative is still seeking a head for, will unit group risk, credit risk and legal and compliance functions, the bank said on Monday (in German).
The move comes shortly after former longstanding Chief Executive Pierin Vincenz said he is being probed in an enforcement proceeding by Finma, the financial regulator, over potential conflicts of interest.
The Raiffeisen move appears to sideline Nadja Ceregato (pictured above), Raiffeisen's current head of legal and compliance. Swiss media have speculated that Vincenz's and Ceregato's professional and personal closeness could have raised Finma's ire. The bank didn't make any connection to either Finma or Ceregato in its statement.
Finance, IT Changes
The bank also made several other organizational changes, but said it will not let any staff go. Its services department will be integrated into the new divisions information technology and services, finance and personnel and private and investment clients (see organizational chart below).
As a result, current IT department head Rolf Olmesdahl (pictured below) will advance to operating chief of Raiffeisen. The bank also said that veteran finance chief Marcel Zoller will take early retirement next April.
Zoller will be replaced by the bank's current head of services, Christian Poerschke (pictured below), from January. The 43-year-old economist (pictured below) began his career at consulting firm Roland Berger and EFTEC before joining Raiffeisen as head or corporate controlling in 2005.
