7. How Vincenz Manipulated the Sale
Vincenz steered the Investnet sale within Raiffeisen so that no one but he had the full picture. Those involved were given doses of information only. Vincenz himself took the sale to the board under an agenda point marked blithely as «miscellaneous». The documentation was so sparse as to prevent a proper preparation or discussion.
The matter was further covered up in that board minutes on the sale were blacked out, no written purchase agreement existed, nor was there any evaluation or discussion of a fair purchase price.
8. How Vincenz Helped Himself
Vincenz, who could only dream of the multi-million salary packages that his rivals at UBS and Credit Suisse took home, needed money to finance the Investnet stake. He took a loan from Raiffeisen – not an unusual occurrence for bank executives, who often draw credit on favorable terms for property, for example.
Vincenz went further though: the CEO wanted to purchase a stake from the bank he was running, and tapped the very same bank for the loan. Other people «close to the bank or its shareholdings» were also granted loans. Compliance and control objections were overruled.
Finma doesn't make clear whether Stocker is among the people close to the bank or stakes, but it does make clear that Vincenz paid a «close advisor» high monthly rates for years. Vincenz also overdrew his CEO budget, at times substantially. Raiffeisen's board didn't know what the expenses were for, and never questioned them.
Was Finma Too Late?
Whether Vincenz's behavior was criminal is for Zurich prosecutors to prove and for a judge to decide. Finma has emphasized that the criminal investigation is helpful is clarifying the scandal.
At the same time, Finma can be questioned on why it didn't act on obvious failings on Raiffeisen's board earlier. The body's apathy in dealing with the conflict of interest inherent in the role of Vincenz's wife, Nadja Ceregato (pictured below) in Raiffeisen's compliance department should have sparked Finma's interest earlier.
Finma justifies its mothballing of the fitness and probity investigation into Vincenz last year, saying it couldn't have achieved anything more by pursuing the probe. Vincenz, the regulator noted, had already promised never to work in top management in finance again.
«Continuing with the proceedings would have been no more than a symbolic gesture», Finma said.
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