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The third largest bank in Switzerland does not lack stone. On March 8 Raiffeisen announces the hasty departure of the chairman of the board Johannes Rüegg-Stürm. This was followed by an exodus from the board of directors around the delegates meeting on June 16th. And on Tuesday, the head of the bank Patrik Gisel announced that he would resign at the end of the year.
This means that the chances of Interim President Pascal Gantenbein to be definitively elected President of the Extraordinary Assembly of Delegates on November 10 have diminished. For Gantenbein had supported Gisel almost to the end. This culminated in a guest commentary joint on the financial portal "Finews". In this, the mutilated chief duo annexed all home-made problems to fallen soldiers Pierin Vincenz .
The board of directors must be in agreement
The twin vacancy becomes a problem for the cooperative bank. To get rid of this as quickly as possible, the newly formed Board of Directors is now gas in the current since April 's ongoing search for a new chairman. Theoretically, the panel would have time until the end of September, because it is only then that the invitations to the meeting of the Extraordinary Delegates of November 10th will be sent. But because of Gisels' resignation, she is in a hurry. As long as the board of directors and the support group of six members of the regional associations have not agreed to a candidate with secure electoral chances, the search for the new CEO is also blocked.
The two Strippenzieher in the search for candidates: Thomas Rauber (left) and Rolf Walker. Photos: Charly Rappo / PD
In the last two weeks, when he began to press Gisel to resign, the Board of Directors hastened the search for candidates for the Presidium – and he seems to have completed it. "The preparatory work has been done", confirms a member of the board of directors. The nominating committee responsible for pre-selection has since held all discussions with potential external candidates and with Gantenbein. Recently, the Board of Directors submitted the list to the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (Finma) for preliminary review.
A deterrence process should be avoided
Normal procedure: all banks of systemic importance with the consent of the Finma.
In the case of Raiffeisen, however, the supervisory authority will look very closely. Indeed, in its June survey, Raiffeisen found "serious gaps in corporate governance". The Bank has not sufficiently managed the conflicts of interest and the Board has neglected its supervisory duty. He had to "renew and strengthen his expertise," ordered Finma. The agency "will closely follow" this process, announced his boss Mark Branson
The election of combat should be avoided
If the Finma proceeds with its preliminary examination in a few weeks as hoped by the Board, the Nomination Committee submit its proposal to the entire Board of Directors during the month of August. We still do not know if he will present one or more names. The purpose of the Board of Directors is to present the candidate to the Presidium to the public at the end of the month of August. A combat election at the meeting of delegates should be avoided. In other words, delegates will probably not be able to select multiple candidates in November.
Two newcomers set the tone for the nominating committee: on June 16, delegates elect Thomas Rauber, 52-year-old entrepreneur and member of the Cantonal Assembly of Friborg. Auditors and banking experts Rolf Walker on the board of directors. Not less because of his election Gisel lost the support of the Council. Rauber is president, Walker's member of the nominating committee of three people. The third member, Philippe Moeschinger, will resign from the board of directors in the summer
The "hot candidate" Bruno Pfister has a problem
Barely more chances for the Raiffeisen presidium since the day before yesterday the former Bruno Pfister, director of Swiss Life. The 59-year-old man had been traded by several media as a "hot candidate". But on Friday, Finma reprimanded private bank Rothschild and a trust-based subsidiary for violating anti-money laundering regulations in the corruption scandal of Malaysian sovereign wealth fund 1MDB. Although there have been preliminary indications that the fund could be involved in money laundering, Rothschild has decided to "significantly expand this business relationship," criticizes the Finma
under the direction of Pfister: he is executive chairman since 2014 asset management and trust business of Rothschild. It was not until mid-May that the bank announced that it would abandon this position in August and would retire to the presidency of the Swiss branch of Rothschild Bank. Raiffeisen will be careful not to dare to start again with a banker who has just had to accept a reprimand from Finma. (SonntagsZeitung)
created: 21.07.2018, 20:36
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