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What is also clear is that Gantenbein won’t be elected Raiffeisen president. Raiffeisen will get a new CEO who will bring in his own team, and it will also get a new president and board who will need to act professionally and comply with Swiss regulator Finma's rules.

This means any new leadership will need time to fill the resultant know-how vacuum and weigh a new strategy. All this could have been avoided if proper crisis management had been applied last March instead of useless dallying. These are lost months, if not years.

Interest-Rate Hike, Anyone?

Thirdly the cracks are already appearing in the cooperative bank model, and for Finma it must be clear that Raiffeisen Switzerland must become a listed company. When finews.ch last month laid out an 8-point plan as to why time had run out (in German only) for Raiffeisen. Gisel and Gantenbein responded in a manner (only in German) which suggested all the problems should be laid at Pierin Vincenz's door.

This appears very embarrassing now, when both realize just how much they have become part of the problem at Raiffeisen. It is possible a new leadership team could streamline the Raiffeisen model, and so Gisel’s departure is a further sign that the «old» Raiffeisen model has become obsolete.

The affair will put Raiffeisen back by years, but it won’t pose a systematic threat. That will come when Raiffeisen is suddenly confronted by rising interest rates. Then it will need a competent crisis management team in place, otherwise its time will pass faster than one can follow.