Two senior executives have left Credit Suisse, and the firm has adjusted proposals for its 2021 annual general meeting in relation to its relationship with a U.S.-based hedge fund and the money management unit's terminated supply chain finance funds.
The bank said in a news release Tuesday it had also expanded the remit of a committee tasked with looking into the supply chain finance funds, run by Credit Suisse Asset Management, to include "the significant U.S.-based hedge fund matter."
Credit Suisse said it expects to take a 4.4 billion Swiss francs ($4.7 billion) hit from the failure of the hedge fund to meet margin commitments late last month, a separate trading update said Tuesday. The charges relate to Archegos Capital Management, a person familiar with the situation said. Archegos defaulted on margin calls in March by Credit Suisse and other banks.
The board of directors has launched two investigations carried out by external parties: one focusing on the money management unit's supply chain finance funds, the assets for which were originated and structured by Greensill Capital and were subject to uncertainties over valuations and issues with insurance coverage, resulting in the liquidation of about $10 billion in four funds and the temporary suspension of trading in four further strategies; and the other looking into the Archegos-related situation.
The investigations, supervised by a special committee of the board of directions, "will not only focus on the direct issues arising from those matters, but also reflect on the broader consequences and lessons learned," the news release said.
Also as a result of the Archegos situation, Christian Meissner was appointed CEO of the investment bank and member of the executive board effective May 1, replacing Brian Chin. Mr. Chin steps down effective April 30, an update on Credit Suisse's website said.
Further, Joachim Oechslin, senior adviser and chief of staff to the CEO of Credit Suisse Group, was appointed ad interim chief risk officer. Thomas Grotzer, general counsel, was named interim global head of compliance. Messrs. Oechslin and Grotzer replace Lara Warner, chief risk and compliance officer. The changes were effective Tuesday. Permanent replacements for Ms. Warner will be announced as soon as the firm has thoroughly assessed internal and external candidates, the person said.
Changes to the AGM proposals are "as a result of recent significant developments in connection with the U.S.-based hedge fund and the Credit Suisse Asset Management managed supply chain finance funds," the release said.
Changes include an amendment to a proposal on the distribution of dividends and the withdrawal of a proposal on variable compensation of the executive board — both adjustments are in particular "following the significant U.S.-based hedge fund matter."
The bank said, "Both the U.S. hedge fund and the supply chain finance matters require substantial further review and scrutiny."
Thomas Gottstein, CEO of Credit Suisse Group, added in the release: "The significant loss in our prime-services business relating to the failure of a U.S.-based hedge fund is unacceptable. In combination with the recent issues around the supply chain finance funds, I recognize that these cases have caused significant concern amongst all our stakeholders. Together with the board of directors, we are fully committed to addressing these situations. Serious lessons will be learned. Credit Suisse remains a formidable institution with a rich history."
Trading in the supply chain finance funds was originally suspended March 1 and the strategies were terminated March 4. Greensill Capital collapsed in the U.K. on March 8. Credit Suisse has returned about $3.1 billion in assets to investors and plans to return further investments.
Also related to the CSAM funds, the firm temporarily suspended its head of asset management for Switzerland and EMEA, its head of fixed income for Switzerland and EMEA, and a fund manager.
