Second quarantine breach by CS President Horta-Osório
In the summer, CS President António Horta-Osório is said to have traveled to the Wimbledon final instead of going into quarantine. A major shareholder still has his back.
Internal investigation reveals second quarantine violation by CS President Antonio Horta-Osório.
Photo: Facundo Arrizabalaga (EPA)
The air for CS President António Horta-Osório is getting thinner. As reported by the Reuters news agency, he is said to have violated quarantine rules a second time. (Read our comment here.)
The avowed tennis fan Horta-Osório is said to have traveled to the Wimbledon final in July. However, he should not have been sitting in the stadium, but according to the rules applicable at the time, he should have been quarantined for ten days after entering the country. This is the result of an internal bank clarification.
The report went to the Audit Committee of the CS Board of Directors. This includes the former UBS Switzerland boss Axel Lehmann. The committee should now decide what to do with these findings.
The CS does not comment on a request from this newspaper.
The important CS shareholder Harris Associates supported the CS President in a statement to Reuters. “We fully support the Chairman’s efforts and are convinced that he will bring CS on the mend,” said David Herro, Harris’s chief investment officer. “We see these minor violations as pure distractions, and the focus must be on the main problem at stake: the CS turnaround.”
A first quarantine breach by Horta-Osório was made public by “Blick” at the end of November. At the beginning of December, Horta-Osório should have quarantined at his place of residence in Wollerau SZ after returning from England according to Swiss rules. Instead, he left Switzerland after just three days. The fact that the banker had clarified whether he could have an exemption before his quarantine breached did not make matters any better.
The proceedings in St. Gallen are still ongoing
He then apologized for his mistake – both publicly and to the CS employees. In addition, Horta-Osório reported himself to the St. Gallen public prosecutor. Receipt of the notification is confirmed there. “The process is still pending, which is why no further information is given,” said a spokesman. Should the authority impose a fine, this could amount to a maximum of 5,000 francs.
In addition, the financial market regulator Finma became active. “We are in contact with the bank on the matter,” said a spokesman.
The matter was already a topic on the board of directors. As this newspaper reported, the bank’s supervisory board was satisfied with Horta-Osório’s statement. He is said to have said there that he accidentally followed the British rules. These stipulated that you do not have to be quarantined if you are staying in the country for less than two days. However, there is no such exception in Switzerland.
Apparently, the CS President’s communication strategy has changed since the first incident. When the first report about a violation of the quarantine regulations, the bank sent a press release with the Mea Culpa from Horta-Osório within a very short time. After the second possible quarantine breach, it has remained calm so far.
Horta-Osório only took up his post in April. His job is to get the bank out of the negative headlines. After his election at the CS-GV, he said: Every CS employee should become a risk manager. The bank’s culture has to change. “We have to think about what led to the problems we are facing today,” said Horta-Osório.
Jorgos Brouzos has been a business journalist at Tamedia since 2015. He mainly reports on the Swiss financial center and the raw materials sector. He studied political science at the University of Zurich.
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