Credit Suisse CEO Tidjane Thiam has pulled out of a high-profile Riyadh summit, a source told finews.com. He is the latest CEO to retreat, amid a political skirmish following the disappearance of a prominent Saudi journalist.
The Zurich-based bank's CEO, Tidjane Thiam, will not attend a summit in Saudi Arabia next week, a source familiar with the matter told finews.com. A spokesman for Credit Suisse didn't comment.
Thiam was one of finance's last holdouts to cancel an appearance at the summit, an effort to pitch Saudi Arabia to foreign investors. He remains listed on the summit's website as a member of a high-profile advisory board, and the Swiss bank is a sponsor of the event (pictured below).
CEOs of finance firms and large multinationals have been calling their trips to Future Investment Initiative, a conference in Saudi Arabia from October 23 to 25 dubbed «Davos in the desert».
Journalist Disappearance
The cancellations, including J.P. Morgan boss Jamie Dimon and HSBC CEO John Flint, follow the disappearance of journalist Jamal Kashoggi in Turkey, which has put the Saudi regime of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on the spot.
Credit Suisse is in a particularly delicate position: the Swiss bank has long wooed business for and with wealthy Saudis, as finews.com reported last week. The summit would also have been an opportunity to hobnob with a long-time major Credit Suisse shareholder, the Olayan Group: CEO Lubna Olayan sits with Thiam on the advisory board.
