A shareholder advocate best known for criticizing banker «fat cat» salaries will step down later this year. The move follows reports of strife with his own board as well as the exit of two high-ranking colleagues.
Dominique Biedermann is a regular at UBS and Credit Suisse investor meetings: the Swiss economist co-founded shareholder proxy Ethos Fund 21 years ago, which represents the interests of investors such as pension funds.
He has been a vociferous critic of big banks on issues like bonuses since former Credit Suisse boss Brady Dougan took home a nearly 90 million Swiss franc payday in one year from two different pay schemes. He has also been unafraid to take on Swiss titans of finance like former UBS Chairman Marcel Ospel or, most recently Credit Suisse Chairman Urs Rohner, whom he called on to step down due to ineffectiveness.
Now, the spotlight has turned to Biedermann himself – for entirely different reasons. The Genevan will step down as head of Ethos' shareholder arm as well as a foundation which governs investment behavior for itself and its member firms.
Threats, Then Bow
Since December, Biedermann had been massively criticized following the exit of two fellow board members, Francoise Bruderer and Monika Roth. Bruderer is a representative of Swiss Post, an Ethos client. The two publicly accused Biedermann of an authoritarian manner, concentrating power, and being resistant to criticism, in an interview (in German). They also criticized the position of his wife, Yola Biedermann, in Ethos' top management as a failing in governance.
Biedermann came out swinging, threatening the two with litigation, but now appears to have buckled under the pressure. He will step down as chairman of the shareholder services arm in June, then of the foundation at a later date, Ethos said in a statement (in German) released on Saturday. Founded in 1997, the shareholder advocate has grown to include 220 member institutions and is an influential voice among Swiss institutional shareholders.
