The Swiss bank is asking shareholders to vet two new board directors out of cycle. The move represents a desire to bolster its risk expertise – and a coup for Chairman António Horta-Osório 100 days into the job.
Zurich-based Credit Suisse is proposing Axel Lehmann (pictured below) and Juan Colombas as board members at an extraordinary shareholders' meeting conducted virtually in October, it said in a statement on Friday. Lehmann, a former UBS board member and executive, is pegged to take over Credit Suisse's board-level risk committee.
The move follows twin blow-ups of risk five months ago, one which sparked a hasty $1.9 billion capital injection by its staunchest heavyweight investors as well as a swath of executive exits. Last month, Credit Suisse released an excoriating litany of its failings with Archegos, where it lost more than $5 billion.
The new hires – especially Lehmann, a warhorse of Swiss banking who left UBS just last month – represent a coup for Credit Suisse Chairman António Horta-Osório in a sweeping reevaluation of risk, strategy, and culture he is launched on the day he was elected. The initial findings may come as soon as third-quarter results on November 4, a person familiar with the matter told finews.com.
Snagged After UBS
Both proposed new board members are risk veterans: Lehmann was until February the CEO of UBS' domestic business but previously spent five years overseeing its board risk committee. He also held risk roles in Zurich Insurance's top management.
Colombas (pictured below) is a long-time associate of Horta-Osório, having overseen risk and then operations at Lloyds when the latter ran the British lender. He has been a board director at ING since October. A spokesman for the Dutch lender said it saw no reason for Colombas not to hold down board roles at both banks.
The men's expertise would fill a vacancy left by Andreas Gottschling, who oversaw Credit Suisse's risk committee and eschewed reelection in the wake of Archegos and Greensill. Lehmann and Colombas lend credibility to Horta-Osório's pledge to make risk management a top priority at the battered bank.
«With their deep experience in risk management and business leadership...they will make an invaluable contribution as we shape the bank’s strategic realignment and enhance our culture of risk management and personal responsibility and accountability,» Horta-Osório said in a statement.
Review By End-2020
The chairman of four months has flagged a review due by year-end. If elected, Lehmann and Colombas would come into their roles roughly three months before new risk chief David Wildermuth of Goldman Sachs does. The bank has already replenished some of this expertise in its business, such as with the hire of Wolfram Peters from Allianz for its troubled asset management arm.
