‘A Swiss should run Credit Suisse’ ex-CS head tells newspaper
File photo of former Credit Suisse (and UBS) CEO Oswald Grübel, who's German, by the way
Keystone / Walter Bieri
In an interview with the newspaper NZZ am Sonntag, former Credit Suisse CEO Oswald Grübel has criticized the large Swiss bank for its handling of the current crisis.
This content was published on
2 minutes
Keystone-SDA/sm
By maintaining that CEO Tidjane Thiam was unaware of the spying affair, the bank is harming the Swiss financial sector, Grübel said in an interview published on Sunday. Foreign media are bursting with schadenfreude, and in business, where it’s all about competence, there’s nothing worse than looking ridiculous, continued the manager.
Grübel also insisted that the major Swiss bank should be run by a Swiss citizen in the future, even if it is helpful to have international employees with global experience.
“But Swiss banks are less global today than they were,” said Grübel, who is from Germany and led CS from 2003-2007 before heading Swiss bank UBS from 2009-2011. Current CS CEO Thiam is French-Ivorian and took on the role in 2015.
Employee monitoring
According to a report in the newspaper SonntagsBlick on Sunday, the monitoring of bank employees is already very extensive. For example, Credit Suisse uses software from the US company Palantir to monitor its employees and meticulously record their activity. Palantir scans all e-mails sent by employees, which helps to identify at-risk employees at an early stage.
Data protection experts told the newspaper that banks were already making extensive use of the means available to monitor staff. However, this is a delicate procedure if the sole purpose is to monitor performance and to check that employees are complying with their contracts.
Le Matin Dimanche also quotes legal scholars of the same opinion. For example, a lawyer explained that spying on an employee using private detectives was prohibited in Switzerland.
With regard to the surveillance of employees, Credit Suisse told SonntagsBlick that the technology solutions of Palantir, for example, were used to ward off financial crime.
More
More
Credit Suisse braced for ‘spygate’ reputational fallout
This content was published on
How deeply will the Credit Suisse spying scandal affect the bank’s reputation among shareholders and private banking clients?
Swiss price watchdog slams excessive prices for generic medicines
This content was published on
The cheapest generic medicines available in Switzerland are more than twice as expensive as in other countries, according to a study by the Swiss price watchdog.
Nature should not figure in net zero calculations: academic study
This content was published on
The natural removal of CO2 from the atmosphere by forests or oceans should not be included in the net-zero balance of climate protection measures, argue researchers.
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.
This content was published on
Nestlé's new CEO Laurent Freixe, has presented plans for the future of the world's largest food company, after his first few weeks in office.
Swiss foreign minister calls on Moscow to end Ukraine war
This content was published on
It's high time Moscow ended its war against Ukraine, Swiss foreign minister Ignazio Cassis tells the UN Security Council.
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.
Study reveals food culture differences between Switzerland and neighbours
This content was published on
Three-quarters of Swiss people consider eating to be a pleasurable, social activity, a new survey reveals. Healthy eating, however, plays a much less important role, it found.
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.
Read more
More
Swiss press unswayed by CS moves to deal with spy scandal
This content was published on
The main Swiss newspapers agree that the Credit Suisse bank has not done enough to dispel further rumours over a spying scandal.
This content was published on
Credit Suisse’s Chief Operating Officer Pierre-Olivier Bouee has resigned following a spying scandal that has rocked Switzerland’s financial circles.
This content was published on
Whenever banks get overexcited about a profitable and expanding area of finance and embark on an expensive talent war, it usually leads to trouble.
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.