The CEO of Swiss fintech Radicant, a digital bank belonging to the Basellandschaftliche Kantonalbank Group, has to clean out his desk with immediate effect.
Launched two years ago as part of the Basellandschaftliche Kantonalbank (BLKB) group, Radicant announced Wednesday that CEO and co-founder Anders Bally has been let go with immediate effect
The measure was taken following a decision by Radicant's board of directors led by chairman Marco Primavesi, who also serves as a bank board member of BLKB. The dismissal was «due to differences with regards to his approach to leadership and communications,» according to the statement.
Interim Co-Leadership
The supervisory board appointed product head Rouven Leuener and CFO Roland Klaey to take over the reins on an interim basis as co-managing CEOs.
In large part due because od Radicant, BLKB has structured itself as a group under CEO John Haefelfinger. The bank is pursuing a portfolio strategy and has taken stakes in various companies with bank-related or complementary offerings.
Leaked Mail
However, investment costs for the development of the sustainability-oriented digital bank have repeatedly given rise to discussion, most recently, the daily newspaper «BZ» (in German, paywall), which devoted an article critical article on the topic.
According to an internal letter to employees, from which the Zurich financial blog «Inside Paradeplatz» quoted, the dismissed Bally described the reporting as a «shitstorm». Likewise, he accused «some politicians» of the Canton of Basel-Landschaft of not properly understanding Radicant's «disruptive aspects».
BLKB Group is majority-owned by the canton, which is also liable to the bank by way of a state guarantee.
Delayed Market Entry
The ex-CEO's vote may have been the straw that broke the camel's back. The question now is how the scandal surrounding Bally will affect Radicant and BLKB's strategy.
After Radicant had received a banking license from the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (Finma) in May, the company's market entry was delayed. It is now expected to take place from the end of March, according to Wednesday's announcement.
