The 57-year-old will have the last word on who gets the CEO job at the troubled bank. The field of potential candidates has already been winnowed down.
Find New Bankers
In terms of personnel, the purge following the era of ex-CEO Pierin Vincenz is well advanced: chairman and board are in their posts. Gisel, who couldn't escape his proximity to erstwhile mentor Vincenz, is also gone. Meanwhile Gisel's deputy Auer, who also worked for Vincenz for seven years, is on his way out. Lachappelle, along with his new CEO, will have to set up new operative leadership.
The shareholder meeting was a clear break with the past and sign of what is to come. Raiffeisen's «clean man of Swiss banking» image following the crisis has taken a considerable beating after criminal allegations against long-time former CEO Vincenz emerged. The retail lender has been roiled after Swiss regulator Finma's enforcement report pointed to gaping holes in its corporate governance and controls during Vincenz's tenure.
Reform and Modernize
Now, Raiffeisen wants to modernize and to reform. One the one hand, the lender wants to offload more authority and decision-making back to its member banks – a reversal from the Vincenz years.
In addition, Raiffeisen is likely to abandon its cooperate structure in favor of incorporating. Another agenda item at the meeting was payment for board directors, where a flat fee will replace an attendance fee and expenses. The bottom line is a 25 percent pay cut for board directors – and Lachappelle is poised to earn 750,000 Swiss francs ($745,100) as full-time chairman.
There was little news in an internal investigation led by Bruno Gehrig, which is nearing its end. The Swiss banking heavyweight's findings will confirm Finma's damning judgement of Raiffeisen. Further details of Gehrig's investigation will not be made public, which is apparently at the request of Zurich prosecutors, who are still investigating Vincenz.
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