Credit Suisse has temporarily replaced three executives, including its head of asset management for Switzerland and EMEA, as it continues to deal with issues related to its supply chain finance funds.
Filippo Rima was appointed interim head of asset management for Switzerland and EMEA in addition to his role as head of equities Switzerland and EMEA, according to an internal Credit Suisse memo by Eric Varvel, CEO for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, obtained Wednesday by Pensions & Investments.
Mr. Rima replaced Michel Degen.
Alexandre Bouchardy, head of asset management investment strategy for Switzerland and EMEA, took on the head of fixed income Switzerland and EMEA role temporarily, replacing Luc Mathys.
Lukas Haas also was temporarily removed. He was named on factsheets as the fund manager for the four supply chain finance funds that Credit Suisse is winding down due to issues related to links with Greensill Capital.
The memo did not specify a reason for the temporary changes. A spokeswoman said Credit Suisse does not comment on the specifics of human resources matters.
The Swiss lender has reached out to external firms to deal with regulators' queries surrounding the collapse of the funds, which it ran with Australian financier Lex Greensill, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg, asking for anonymity in discussing internal information.
Documents on Credit Suisse's website said it was the firm's "fiduciary responsibility to act in the best interests of investors in these funds, and we are taking action to protect them from potential downside risk and valuation uncertainty" in relation to the four funds.
Credit Suisse Asset Management fund boards suspended redemptions and subscriptions in the funds as of March 1, and on March 5 decided to terminate the funds.
Four of the funds contained Greensill-backed paper: the $7.3 billion Credit Suisse (Lux) Supply Chain Finance Fund; the $1.8 billion Credit Suisse Nova (Lux) Supply Chain Finance High Income Fund; the $300 million Credit Suisse Nova (Lux) Supply chain Investment Grade Fund; and the $700 million Credit Suisse Supply Chain Finance Investment Grade Fund. Net asset values are as of Feb. 25.
Credit Suisse pulled the plug on the funds in part because a major insurer for the securities in the funds refused to provide coverage on new notes — a decision that sent ripple effects worldwide and prompted Greensill Capital to seek a buyer for its operations, according to Bloomberg.
Mr. Haas was named as fund manager for all four funds. The strategies have more than 1,000 investors, all institutional or professional investors, said a Credit Suisse document dated March 2.
