Credit Suisse Investors Push for Audit of Greensill Debacle

Credit Suisse Investors Seek Special Audit of Greensill Debacle

Myriam Balezou

31 Mar 2022, 01:09 PM IST

(Bloomberg) -- Credit Suisse Group AG shareholders proposed a special audit over the collapse of a group of supply chain finance funds it ran with now-defunct Greensill Capital, after the bank refused to publish an internal report on the matter.

The lender urged shareholders to vote against the proposal at the annual general meeting next month, saying it could complicate efforts to recover investor money that remains locked up more than a year after it was frozen. The audit is being proposed by the Ethos Foundation and seven Swiss pension funds.

Credit Suisse had initially hoped to present key findings last year from an internal report into the collapse of the $10 billion group of investment funds, but later decided it won’t publish it for fear of hurting recovery efforts. The Greensill scandal, along with losses from the collapse of Archegos Capital Management, dealt Credit Suisse its worst year since the financial crisis and prompted a management and board shakeup.

“We believe that shareholders are entitled to know the main conclusions of this investigation as well as the measures that have been or will be taken to prevent such cases to repeat in the future,” said Vincent Kaufmann, chief executive officer of Ethos, in a statement. “We also believe that this information is essential to exercise our rights as shareholders at the next general meeting.”

Credit Suisse excluded the Greensill matter from a vote of discharge for the past two years, meaning top management won’t be off the hook for their responsibility in the matter for the time being, according to the agenda for the April 29 meeting, published late Wednesday.

The lender earlier this month announced that Vice Chairman Severin Schwan won’t stand for reelection to the board, along with two other members. Schwan, who is also chief executive officer of Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche Holding AG, had come under criticism that his dual mandates don’t leave him enough time to fulfill his duties at the lender.