CS takeover: Call from Finma leaves UBS Chairman Colm Kelleher speechless

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UBS Chairman Colm Kelleher (66) already knew this in October 2022: Credit Suisse will have no future. In an interview with “NZZ am Sonntag”, he said that before taking over, UBS went through numerous different scenarios. At that time, CS presented its strategic plan. From November 2022, external consultants from UBS would begin working.

In March 2023, an operations center was finally established, a strategy committee on the board and a well-connected Swiss vice president, Lukas Gähwiler. In retrospect, the big bank was “best prepared” for the Credit Suisse takeover, according to Kelleher.

Negotiating with the “hesitant bride”

Still, Kelleher held his breath when he got the call from financial market regulator Finma. “Even though I was waiting for him, I was speechless for two minutes,” Kelleher said. His thoughts were with the suffering CS employees. “But we had to move on: we had four days to make a deal with a reluctant bride,” he said.

Negotiations never stopped. But there were also difficult moments, Kelleher said. Sometimes he intervened in management and supervisory authorities. “Finma did a very good job from March 15-19,” the UBS Chairman said.

But Finma’s powers were limited: “I have already said that in my view Finma did not have sufficient powers to ensure compliance with the regulations,” Kelleher said. Kelleher reviewed the letters Finma sent to the CS board after taking over CS. “These letters clearly show where CS’s problems are. If I had received such a letter from the US supervisory authority on an American bank, I would have acted differently,” said the UBS chairman, who previously worked for Morgan Stanley and others.

Kelleher loves the American model

New tools will be needed for inspection in the future. “Will there be ‘dual leadership’ with a supervisory authority reporting to the central bank?” This question needs to be clarified. He personally likes the American model with clearly defined responsibilities: “Financial stability is a duty of the central bank. Banking regulation is also part of a stable financial system.”

In the interview, Kelleher also criticized the former CS’s culture: “The Credit Suisse culture in some parts of the investment bank was bad. Bonus payments, for example, testify to this.” However, there were also parts of Credit Suisse with a strong culture, such as CS Switzerland. (SDA/kae)

Source :Blick