Raiffeisen could lose its embattled Chief Executive as soon as Saturday. His earlier-than-expected exit follows an affair-turned-relationship with one of his board directors.
The cooperative lender's CEO Patrik Gisel will step down when member banks convene on Saturday, Swiss tabloid «Blick» (in German) reported on Friday, citing undisclosed sources. A spokeswoman for Raiffeisen didn't comment.
The 56-year-old Swiss banker was to depart at year-end, but is hastening his departure after embarking on a romantic relationship with board director Laurence de la Serna, CEO of a Geneva-based aerospace firm and until this summer, a Raiffeisen board director – and thus one of Gisel's bosses.
The paper didn't clarify when the relationship began: de la Serna stepped down in June, after less than one year as a director. Gisel, who was forced to step down one month later, reportedly didn't inform his board of the relationship until very recently.
Daylight to Criminal Probe
Gisel's sudden exit is minor in the scheme of Raiffeisen's problems: the bank is about to elect ex-Basler Kantonalbank CEO Guy Lachappelle as its third chairman this year. Raiffeisen is also struggling to put daylight between itself and the criminal investigation into ex-CEO Pierin Vincenz.
Vincenz also maintained a relationship at work: his wife, Nadja Ceregato, is Raiffeisen's former legal counsel. Gisel hasn't been ensnared by the criminal investigation of Vincenz, his long-time mentor an predecessor in the CEO seat, but nevertheless couldn't salvage his job.
