Eric Varvel is making management changes at the Swiss bank's under-fire asset management unit, finews.com has learned. This follows the implosion of a $10.1 billion line of funds co-managed with supply chain specialist Greensill.
Zurich-based Credit Suisse is taking Michel Degen off the job temporarily as the head of its asset management activities in Switzerland and wider Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, effective immediately, according to a memo to the unit's staff on Wednesday, finews.com can report.
«I've asked Filippo Rima to take on the ad interim head of asset management head of Switzerland and EMEA,» Eric Varvel, Credit Suisse's top executive in the region, wrote in the memo. Rima takes on the job in addition to his current one as head of equities in Switzerland.
Point Person For Supply Chain
Varvel neither provided a specific reason for the move nor mentioned Greensill in the brief memo. Degen was instrumental in setting up a line of supply chain funds set up with U.K.-based specialist, as finews.com reported earlier on Wednesday. The funds were shut last week and the Swiss bank is moving to liquidate them.
Credit Suisse is also temporarily replacing Luc Mathys, the head of fixed income in its asset management arm. Alexandre Bouchardi will temporarily take over for Mathys, Varvel said. Credit Suisse is also taking a Zurich-based banker who managed the supply chain funds off the job temporarily.
Doubling Down On Greensill
As Credit Suisse faces the nightmarish unwind of the Greensill assets, it faces the delicate decision on whether to compensate investors for losses. It isn't clear whether the bank is a direct party to insurance on the Greensill assets.
The hit to the Swiss wealth manager's reputation is huge: its bankers doubled down with Greensill as well its founder, with entanglements in wealth management and asset management, besides the supply chain fund ties.
Legal Threat Looms
The changes come as a U.S. law firm attempts a class-action legal bid on behalf of investors in the Credit Suisse funds. The firm said it is interested in «whether Credit Suisse and certain of its officers and/or directors have engaged in securities fraud or other unlawful business practices,» in a press release issued on Wednesday.
With debt investors starved for yield amid low- and negative interest rates, Credit Suisse set up line of funds with Greensill early in 2017. By 2018, Credit Suisse had already raised $2 billion for Greensill funds. By this year, that sum had ballooned to $10.1 billion.
