The sudden departure of Chairman António Horta-Osório reveals a major divide at Credit Suisse – and far less diplomacy from the overseer than expected.
António Horta-Osório's (pictured below) ouster at the Swiss bank on Monday reveals that he had made enemies since taking over from Urs Rohner in April. It also lays bare a brief tenure riddled with conflict between the Portuguese-British banker and his board colleagues as well as Credit Suisse's top management.
This is illustrated in detail-rich post-mortems from the «Financial Times,» (behind paywall) which notes that some Credit Suisse insiders had nicknamed Horta-Osório «Torquemada,» after the 15th century Grand Inquisitor.
Contested Tranfer Of Power
The 57-year-old also apparently didn't spare his board colleagues either: «There is no doubt he made a lot of enemies. He told several members of the board they were not fit for purpose,» the «FT» reported, citing a source close to Horta-Osório.
Both the British outlet as well as «Reuters» (behind paywall) reported that Horta-Osório interfered with CEO Thomas Gottstein's daily running of the bank and sought to transfer more say-so from management to board.
Fraught C-Suite Relations
The chairman-to-CEO relationship, which took a major hit last autumn through press revelations, became fraught with conflict. Horta-Osório also riled other senior executives with far more pointed, detailed questions that predecessor Rohner during quarterly results preparations.
«There were quite a few red faces,» the newswire reported, citing a person involved in them. To be sure, pointed questioning belongs to Horta-Osório's job – and now to successor Axel Lehmann's.
No Sympathy From Peers
Ultimately, Horta-Osório was felled by his business travel and skipping out on quarantine as well as mixing bank and private travel, the «FT» reported. His board colleagues had little sympathy for what they viewed as his dishonesty over the COVID restrictions.
For his part, Lehmann on Monday as well as in Tuesday's edition of Swiss outlet «Tages-Anzeiger» (behind paywall, in German) backed the strategy orchestrated by Horta-Osório – and said he had no intention of being an interim chairman.
