Credit Suisse chief Ulrich Koerner continues to make efforts to reassure markets about the troubled Swiss lender’s financial health, spotlighting its «too big to fail» status.
Credit Suisse shares reached a record low on Wednesday following fresh concerns about its delayed annual report due to a late SEC call over revised cash flow statements for 2019 and 2020. The bank acknowledges «material weaknesses» in its financial reporting and control procedures in the past two years and is seeking to remediate the issue as soon as possible.
But CEO Ulrich Koerner emphasized that this did not affect Credit Suisse’s financial results.
«Unqualified Opinion» by PwC
In response to concerns about the accuracy of Credit Suisse's reporting, Koerner stressed that the financial results already presented will remain unchanged.
«The financial results are unchanged for 2022 and the previous years. So, what is out there and what we put out there on February 9 are the right and accurate numbers. That is the most important thing here,» Koerner said in an interview with «CNA».
«Our external auditor PricewaterhouseCoopers has given us an unqualified opinion on these results.»
Outflow, Hiring Challenges
Koerner also spoke about specific challenges the bank faces, including its efforts to stem outflows by launching an «unprecedented» outreach program on October 27 to engage over 10,000 wealth management clients globally in one-on-one discussions to provide clarity and boost confidence.
On personnel, Koerner admitted that the bank has seen «somewhat heightened attrition» amid a restructuring that involves 9,000 job cuts but that it had «no issues whatsoever» in hiring more staff.
Too Big to Fail
On the Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) collapse, Koerner said Credit Suisse’s current state of affairs was «not comparable at all». «This is a very different situation,» he said, adding that the bank had limited credit exposure to SVB.
«We are a globally, systematically important bank. We operate under the highest possible standards when it comes to capital, to funding, to liquidity, to our results. Our capital, our liquidity basis is very, very strong. We fulfill and overshoot basically all regulatory requirements.»
