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‘I’m Not Afraid’ of Ouster, Credit Suisse Chairman Tells Paper

‘I’m Not Afraid’ of Ouster, Credit Suisse Chairman Tells Paper

(Bloomberg) -- Credit Suisse Group AG Chairman Urs Rohner says he’s not afraid of being ousted from his position, after winning his controversial boardroom battle with outgoing Chief Executive Officer Tidjane Thiam, Schweiz am Wochenende reported.

“The board of directors has done what it considers best for Credit Suisse,” Rohner told the newspaper in an interview. “Personally, I am not afraid of being voted out” before his scheduled departure in 2021, he said. Asked if he had the backing of the board at this year’s annual meeting, Rohner said he has no evidence his re-election would be at risk.

Rohner had faced pressure to resign from some of Credit Suisse’s biggest investors who were instead backing Thiam in a dispute over who was to blame for a spying scandal that has overshadowed the bank for months. Thiam was ousted on Friday and while he credited with turning around the bank’s finances, the stock lost half its value during his five-year tenure. Thiam said he never knew that the bank had ordered senior executives to be spied upon, but acknowledged that the episode had caused “anxiety and hurt.”

It was not originally the board’s decision that someone had to go given the turnaround job that Thiam had achieved at the bank, Rohner said. “You don’t part with such a successful CEO prematurely,” he was quoted as saying.

But then over the past few weeks it became clear that the bank had “suffered a loss of reputation” and it became “imperative that Tidjane Thiam step down,” Rohner said.

Eliminating Uncertainty

The bank’s CEO-elect Thomas Gottstein said he received assurances that he has the full backing of everyone at Credit Suisse and will focus on eliminating the “uncertainty” overshadowing the Swiss lender, Tages-Anzeiger reported on Saturday.

Gottstein, who previously headed Credit Suisse’s Swiss Universal Bank and is an excellent golfer, told the newspaper that his appointment as CEO was an emotional moment and that “everyone has assured me that they are behind me.” Some “uncertainty has arisen,” he was quoted as saying. “I want to help make it disappear.”

Asked about his strategy for the future, Gottstein said that the “great growth opportunities are in Asia and the emerging countries.” In Switzerland and other mature markets, it’s “about gaining market share,” he said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Hugo Miller in Geneva at hugomiller@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Anthony Aarons at aaarons@bloomberg.net, Rene Vollgraaff, Michael Hunter

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