The Swiss bank is hosting a star-studded week of discussing some of most pressing problems facing the world. The unfortunate timing given its own woes has strategic logic.

The Zurich-based firm is marshaling star power for the first sustainability week from June 28 to July 2: ex-Bank of England head Mark Carney, U.S. businessman and politician Mike Bloomberg, and conservationist and United Nations messenger Jane Goodall, for example.

The long-planned event brings attention to a topic Credit Suisse loves to talk about – but also thrusts several executives like CEO Thomas Gottstein (pictured below), who opened the event in Geneva on Monday, into an unwelcome spotlight.

«This week’s conference highlights another key pillar of our strategy: thought leadership,» Gottstein said. «Global experts with will address key topics including the global food system, biodiversity disclosures, and ESG reporting.»

At Odds With Scandals

Credit Suisse sustainability boss Marisa Drew figures prominently, and even Chairman António Horta-Osório is pressed into action, to interview Swiss tennis player Roger Federer, who is a brand ambassador for the Swiss lender.

The week is not about Credit Suisse but for clients and meant to «amplify leading voices from across business, public policy, academia and finance, to tackle how, together, we can build a more sustainable world,» the bank said said. In other words, uncomfortable questions aren't welcome. 

thomas gottstein

Funding For Steel, Coal 

There are, of course, a few of those right now: Credit Suisse is battling twin scandals of Greensill ($10.1 billion in funds with the collapsed supply chain specialist) and Archegos ($5 billion in losses from business with the family office-hedge fund).

The bank is also the subject of a probe into its own governance, after spying on at least two former top executives. A spokesman for Credit Suisse declined to comment on the bank's own governance investigation.

Governance in the broader sense is addressed in a panel on untangling ESG reporting and by Carney and Bloomberg as part of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures. This is doubtless commendable – but it also sits uneasily with current events including Greensill, which leant heavily to steel magnate Sanjeev Gupta and to coal mine operator Blue Stone. 

Timing Conundrum

The unfortunate timing underscores Credit Suisse's conundrum in getting traction for a big sustainability push that it has backed up with top management muscle, under former investment banker Lydie Hudson (pictured below), as well as with 300 billion Swiss francs ($327 billion) over ten years.

Hudson 500

Detractors would argue the bank is at risk of losing a carefully-orchestrated fig leaf. In fact, Switzerland's financial regulator Finma also wants more detail from Swiss banks, like descriptions of major climate-related financial risks and their impact – and how this is governed internally.

Huge Business Opportunity  

The overseer wants transparency, but for banks it is part of a bid to not sit on so-called stranded assets which become nearly obsolete due to climate measures. Credit Suisse's oil- and gas-related positions have dropped consistently since 2015, according to its annual sustainability report, and stood at $7.1 billion at year-end.

The other side of the coin is business opportunities: like most wealth managers, Credit Suisse is seeking a younger, presumably more ecologically aware client. Three years ago, it described millennials as the generation which will eventually inherit $40 trillion.

More Than Fig Leaf

More imminently, the sustainability strategy represents a timely bid to eliminate a vulnerability: environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues represent fertile ground for potential activist investors. At Credit Suisse, concern of an unwanted attack is growing, «Reuters» reported on Friday.

«Investors increasingly view corporate attention to ESG criteria as closely linked with business resilience, competitive strength, and financial performance,» lawyers for Sidley Austin wrote recently. With merger speculation around Credit Suisse rife, the bank may be engaging in rearguard action – and needs more than a fig-leaf.