Credit Suisse CFO, head of Asia to step down in latest overhaul

CREDIT Suisse Group said a raft of longstanding top executives are stepping down in the latest management overhaul as the Swiss bank seeks to move past a string of scandals and profit warnings. 

Chief financial officer David Mathers will be leaving the bank once a replacement has been found, while Edwin Low takes over as head for the Asia-Pacific region from Helman Sitohang, the current head, who is staying on as a senior adviser.

Ex-UBS Group top lawyer Markus Diethelm becomes the new chief legal officer, replacing Romeo Cerutti who will retire, according to a statement on Wednesday (Apr 27). The bank also said Francesca McDonagh will become CEO of the EMEA region in October. That position had been held by wealth head Francesco de Ferrari on an interim basis. 

Chairman Axel Lehmann is making his first major personnel changes since taking over. The latest overhaul culminates a near complete dismantling of the management board that chief executive officer Thomas Gottstein inherited over 2 years ago, with about half the executives pushed out after the Archegos Capital Management and Greensill Capital scandals. 

Several long-standing directors also recently decided to not stand for re-election after coming under pressure from major shareholders including David Herro of Harris Associates. 

Credit Suisse is struggling to emerge from a losing streak that includes 5 profit warnings in the past 6 quarters and the biggest losses among Wall Street peers after the Archegos implosion saddled it with about US$5.5 billion of losses. The bank has also raised the ire of some investors who are calling for more disclosure on the collapse of a group of supply chain finance funds the bank ran with Greensill. 

Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, one of the largest shareholders in Credit Suisse, 7 Swiss pension funds, and the Ethos Foundation, a shareholder advisor, are calling for more transparency. BLOOMBERG