Credit Suisse is hiring the European Central Bank's chief communications executive to replace a controversial associate of former CEO Tidjane Thiam.
The Swiss bank is hiring Christine Graeff as head of corporate communications and deputy head of human resources, effective January 1, it said in an emailed statement on Wednesday. Graeff is currently the European Central Bank's highest communications officer as director-general.
Graeff, the fifth person to hold the job in six years, follows Adam Gishen, a British investment banker who had repeatedly drawn criticism during his two-year tenure in the role. Gishen left in February shortly after CEO Tidjane Thiam exited as a consequence of a damaging spy scandal. James Quinn, a British former journalist, has held the job since then.
Mending Fences
A large part of Graeff's job will be to mend fences at home following the five-month spy saga which led to regulatory as well as criminal scrutiny. Unlike Gishen, who had amassed influence over other areas of Credit Suisse including marketing and branding, Graeff will have a say in human resources; she is to back up HR boss Antoinette Poschung, who is part of top management.
The combined job is a bid to «leverage the full potential of both functions,» Credit Suisse said. Thiam had separated the two jobs in 2015 shortly after he arrived to run the Zurich-based bank in 2015. Graeff will report to Chairman Urs Rohner, who is due to leave in spring, as well as CEO Thomas Gottstein in the communications job, and to Poschung for HR.
