FINMA, the Swiss regulator of the financial sector, is studying the possibilities of holding the leaders of Credit Suisse to account, following the debacle of the bank, indicated its president in the Swiss press.
“We are not a criminal authority, but we are exploring the corresponding possibilities,” said Marlene Amstad, in an interview published by the Sunday newspaper. NZZ am Sonntag.
The express rescue of Credit Suisse by its rival UBS under pressure from the government and regulatory authorities sent shock waves through the country.
Many observers also fear that the size of UBS is now disproportionate. According to Mme Amstad, its capital and liquidity requirements are expected to grow gradually.
This takeover follows the turbulence experienced by banks in the United States, which prompted investors to sell the securities of institutions considered to be weak links, such as Credit Suisse, which had been multiplying scandals for two years.
Axel Lehmann, chairman of Credit Suisse, also accused social media of helping to sink the bank.
According to Mme Amstad, who worked for Credit Suisse in the past, “obviously the social media storm is not the cause of Credit Suisse’s problems.”
“These have a long history. They were caused by various scandals and management mistakes over the past few years. The bank was already in the grip of a crisis of reputation and confidence,” she notes.
She also points out that Credit Suisse’s problems were not limited to a single business sector, and “reflected a largely insufficient risk culture”.
She recognizes that the bank has a very large number of employees who were doing their job properly, and that business sectors were functioning.
“Lack of responsibility”
“In the end, it failed because of the many scandals and bad decisions made by the management. The bank’s management has long clung to a strategy that carried high risks, but it was unable to manage these risks adequately. This problem persisted for several years”, analyzes the President of FINMA.
“I won’t name names, but the many mistakes were made over many years. Credit Suisse had a cultural problem that resulted in a lack of accountability,” she adds.
The state and regulators have been accused by some observers of taking too long to act. And several parties are calling for a parliamentary inquiry to shed light on the role of FINMA.
Mme Amstad brushed aside these criticisms, noting in particular that FINMA’s interventions with banks are not always made public.
And, she points out, “a deficient corporate culture and strategic errors of judgment on the part of management cannot ultimately be completely eliminated by strict regulations”.
According to a new survey by the Sotomo Institute published on Sunday by SonntagsBlickanother Sunday daily, two out of three Swiss reject the takeover of Credit Suisse by UBS.
In addition, four out of five respondents demand that UBS separates from Credit Suisse’s Swiss activities in order to avoid too high a concentration of risk.
61% of respondents would have preferred the state to nationalize Credit Suisse and sell it later.
According to the president of FINMA, there are few examples of successful nationalization of banks.
“The Confederation and the authorities agreed that this would have been the worst solution, for the State, the taxpayers, the Swiss financial center and the international markets”, she indicates in the interview.