Credit Suisse Chairman Antonio Horta-Osorio has quit following an internal probe into his personal conduct, including breaches of Covid-19 rules.
The departure raises questions over the embattled lender's new strategy as it tries to recover from a string of scandals. His exit comes less than a year after he was hired to help the bank deal with the implosion of collapsed investment firm Archegos and the insolvency of British supply chain finance company Greenshill Capital.
At the time, the Swiss bank was still reeling from the 2020 exit of CEO Tidjane Thiam over a spying scandal. Combined these triggered multi-billion dollar losses and sackings at Switzerland's second biggest bank, and Horta-Osorio unveiled a new strategy in November to rein in its investment bankers and curb a freewheeling culture.
However, the Portuguese banker's personal conduct has recently come under scrutiny, after he breached Covid-19 quarantine rules twice in 2021. "I regret that a number of my personal actions have led to difficulties for the bank and compromised my ability to represent the bank internally and externally," Horta-Osorio said in a statement issued by Credit Suisse today. "I therefore believe that my resignation is in the interest of the bank and its stakeholders at this crucial time," added Horta-Osorio, the former CEO of Lloyds.