Swiss perspectives in 10 languages

Credit Suisse bosses ‘enriched themselves with massive bonuses’

Protestors with a boat named Crisis Suisse
Protestors make their point outside the Credit Suisse AGM in Zurich in April. © Keystone / Michael Buholzer

A handful of Credit Suisse executives were handed hundreds of millions of francs in opaque profit-sharing deals in the years leading up to the bank’s collapse, reports the SonntagsZeitung newspaper.

The revelations come after the Swiss government ordered bonuses to be capped or scrapped for top managers while shareholders voted against executive pay demands.

+ Where did it all go wrong for Credit Suisse?

Parliament is also debating reforms that would curb excessive bonuses for banks that are deemed too big to fail.

This comes after Credit Suisse was forced into an emergency takeover by UBS to avoid collapsing under the weight of a bank run.

The SonntagsZeitung has named seven former Credit Suisse executives who were able to enrich themselves while working for the investment banking or asset management units.

More

In 2019 alone, some CHF100 million was paid out to a few top managers, the newspaper says. In other years, various top earners were awarded up to CHF30 million in deals that were kept secret from shareholders.

Some of the bonuses were the result of profit-sharing schemes that were allegedly approved by former Credit Suisse CEO Brady Dougan.

Dougan infamously pocketed a CHF71 million bonus shortly after the financial crisis had sent shares plummeting.

Frequently citing unnamed sources, the newspaper runs through a list of opaque bonus deals that netted eye-watering sums of money.

However, managers later invariably left the bank as huge deals went sour, causing the bank catastrophic reputational damage.

Popular Stories

Most Discussed

News

No Swiss bank in phase with environmental objectives

More

Swiss banks failing environment, says WWF

This content was published on None of the 15 major Swiss retail banks is meeting international climate and biodiversity targets, according to a ranking by WWF Switzerland.

Read more: Swiss banks failing environment, says WWF
UNRWA provides emergency assistance to just over one million Palestine refugees, or about 75 per cent of all Palestine refugees in Gaza, who lack the financial means to cover their basic food.

More

Lazzarini: no alternative to UNRWA in Gaza

This content was published on The only alternative to the UN Palestinian agency’s work in Gaza is to allow Israel to run services there, Philippe Lazzarini, UNRWA Commissioner-General, told reporters in Geneva on Monday.

Read more: Lazzarini: no alternative to UNRWA in Gaza

In compliance with the JTI standards

More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative

You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!

If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR