The Swiss lender has closed an account linked to renowned Chinese artist Ai Weiwei as it faces tough choices between doing business in a growth market and damage to its reputation over human rights.
Credit Suisse risks huge damage to its reputation outside China after terminating an account belonging to Chinese artist Ai Weiwei's foundation. The decision to end its relationship with Ai Weiwei shows that the bank fears that being connected with the critic of the ruling Communist Party would hurt its efforts to win business in China, according to an online post by the artist.
Ai Weiwei who lives in Portugal, wrote that the bank had ended the relationship on the pretext that it was closing accounts of holders with criminal records. The artist pointed out he has never been formally charged or convicted of a crime.
Reputational Risk
In his online post Ai Weiwei says that in 2018, Credit Suisse paid $77 million to settle a charges brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that employment of «friends and family» of senior Chinese officials in its joint ventures violated the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
The bank's reputation is already battered after the collapse of the Greensill supply chain funds involving $10.1 billion of its clients' money and the $5.5 billion it lost in the collapse of the Archegos hedge fund.
Swiss Ties
In past interviews the artist has expressed his gratitude to Switzerland for hosting his first European solo exhibition in 2004.
In a recent interview with «20Minuten» (in German) however, Ai Weiwei accused the country of being hypocritical. He also described human rights element of the Swiss government's China strategy as «fake».
