Breakingviews - Credit Suisse’s spring clean has barely started

  • 4/6/2021
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LONDON (Reuters Breakingviews) - Tossing a few executives overboard won’t suffice for scandal-ridden Credit Suisse. The twin collapses of clients Archegos Capital Management and Greensill Capital must lead to deeper soul-searching at the Swiss bank. Restructuring and disposals may be necessary. It took the Zurich-based group over a week to put a number on its losses after the fund run by Bill Hwang defaulted on margin calls. Credit Suisse shares fell by almost a fifth during that time. The estimated hit of 4.4 billion Swiss francs ($4.7 billion), finally unveiled on Tuesday, is greater than last year’s pre-tax profit. Credit Suisse’s prime brokers were slower than rivals like Goldman Sachs to offload stock positions held as part of equity derivatives sold to Archegos. The only good news from Tuesday’s trading update is that the bank’s common equity Tier 1 capital ratio will remain above 12%, making a much-feared cash call less likely. Still, losses from the collapse of funds linked to supply-chain financier Greensill could inflict further pain. Other than shareholders, the immediate casualties are investment bank boss Brian Chin, who was previously head of the group’s standalone trading business, and risk chief Lara Warner, both of whom are leaving. Outgoing Chairman Urs Rohner is giving up a 1.5 million Swiss franc payment, but his overall remuneration will still exceed 3.2 million Swiss francs. The board is also launching external investigations into the dual scandals, cancelling executive bonuses for 2020, slashing a proposed dividend by two-thirds and suspending share buybacks. It’s a good start, but much depends on the extent and outcome of the board probes. The recent episodes have exposed systematic risk-management failures which the bank cannot just pin on two departing individuals. Shareholders deserve an explanation of which control policies failed, and how Chief Executive Thomas Gottstein and incoming Chairman António Horta-Osório will fix them. The pair should also consider using the crisis to conduct some major corporate surgery. Credit Suisse’s core private banking and Swiss domestic units are being tainted by peripheral businesses which offer little to the rest of the group. Selling asset management and shrinking investment banking could make sense. Credit Suisse shares were flat after Tuesday’s overdue update. The lesson is that the spring clean has barely begun.

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