Credit Suisse president Axel Lehmann apologized Tuesday at the Swiss bank’s general meeting of shareholders for the crisis that led to its “rushing merger” with UBS, as the other option would have been “bankruptcy.”
Speaking at the last general meeting of the bank’s shareholders before the merger with the Swiss bank UBS in Zurich, Lehmann explained in his apology to the shareholders that “in the end there were only two options: one agreement or bankruptcy.”
And he continued: “(…) the merger had to happen, the conditions had to be accepted.”
Had the restructuring been chosen in accordance with Swiss banking law, “the worst-case scenario would have occurred with total losses for shareholders, unpredictable risks for clients and serious consequences for the economy and global financial markets,” the manager said.
“Today is a sad day,” the banker admitted, stressing that “the bitterness, anger and shock of all those who have been disappointed, depressed and affected by the events of recent weeks are palpable.”
Lehmann, who took over as president of Credit Suisse in early 2022 and defended a restructuring project last October to try to get the bank out of its financial and reputational meltdown, admitted there was “no time to turn things around.”
“We were unable to overcome the impact of past scandals, to counter negative headlines with positive facts,” the Swiss banker admitted.
“In the fateful week in March, all of our plans collapsed,” he said, referring to the days leading up to the UBS sale on March 19, when the company’s stock market fell heavily, tainted by the banking crisis that began in March. USA, with the collapse of the Silicon Valley bank.
Lehmann ensured that the board’s approval of the UBS sale (bypassing the shareholder voting process) was “one of the most difficult moments”, but ensured that it resulted in “a decision that brings clarity”. , security and stability.
“Credit Suisse will not exist in its current form in the future and what is left is, understandably, disappointment, bitterness and sadness at the end of the bank we believed in,” concluded the chairman of Credit Suisse, the bank founded in 1856. .
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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