Those who have worked closely with Horta-Osório know the level of his obsession with detail.
“Or in the words of the US president Theodore Roosevelt: Keep your eyes on the stars, and your feet on the ground.” Devil in the details The other, which has to be addressed in parallel in the shorter term, is to resolve the problems that are hurting the bank. The first is to define our long-term direction. There are two things that are important to me. “We are in the initial phase of the strategic repositioning of the bank. They are not acceptable,” he told Swiss newspaper NZZ late last week. These ups and downs are normal – but the two most recent incidents at Credit Suisse go beyond that. “During all my years as a bank CEO, I have seen a few of the highs and lows that companies experience – during the financial crisis, the Asia crisis and the problems in Brazil from 1996 to 2000. Horta-Osório has already admitted to investors that the problems facing the company are the worst he has seen in his 34-year banking career.įixing what is now Europe’s most troubled financial institution will involve hard decisions – and time is ticking for the 57-year-old to make his big move. The bank has now gone back into crisis mode, just as it was attempting to move on from a hugely embarrassing spying scandal that forced then-chief executive Tidjane Thiam’s resignation. The twin implosions of the bank’s clients Greensill Capital, the finance firm advised by David Cameron, as well as US hedge fund Archegos, have left it nursing billions of dollars in losses. The Zurich-based lender has been swerving from one disaster to the next at rapid speed and Horta-Osório, the man who restored Lloyds after the 2008 financial crisis, is trying to grab hold of the wheel. ”If the wheels were not installed properly, you will still have an accident.” “If you drive it at top speed along a country road, you will have an accident,” he mused last week.
Credit Suisse is like a racing car, according to the bank’s new chairman António Horta-Osório.
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