Battered CIC Bank Switzerland Has a New Executive Board Member

The crisis-ridden bank CIC Switzerland is in the process of reshaping its executive board.

Bank CIC Switzerland's Chief Operating Officer Matthias Kaelin was appointed to the bank's executive board on April 10, according to a statement (in German) on Tuesday.

Kaelin joined the bank in 2003 and was initially head of the bank's application systems and head of the IT department before taking over as head of Technology & Operational Services. His remit includes IT, operations, project management, product management, and customer and channel management.

Irregularities Resulting in Scandal

According to various media reports, there were alleged loan irregularities at the bank's St. Gallen branch last year, as finews.com reported.

Last December the bank fired long-time CEO, Thomas Mueller. CIC chairman Eric Charpentier cited differing views over the strategic direction of the bank as the reason for the dismissal. Other high-ranking employees also had to leave, and in February, Livia Moretti took over as CEO. Before joining CIC, she was a member of the Executive Board of the European Central Bank.

Bank CIC is a subsidiary of the French banking group Crédit Mutuel. In addition to its headquarters in Basel, the bank has branches in Fribourg, Geneva, Lausanne, Lugano, Lucerne, Neuchâtel, Sion, St. Gallen, and Zurich.