Found an error?
Report now
CS Chairman of the Board of Directors Axel Lehmann apologizes to shareholders at the last AGM. Could he still have saved CS?
Bild: sda
One year before the end of Credit Suisse, there was an offer that could have saved the bank. But the Chairman of the Board of Directors, Axel Lehmann, decided against it.
Could the big bank Credit Suisse have been saved? According to an offer, a year ago before the final collapse. There was a way to save the bank. The American banker Bob Diamond offered to buy Credit Suisse's investment bank for CHF 5 billion.
However, this offer was rejected by Axel Lehmann, Chairman of the Board of Directors. This was reported by the Tages Anzeiger newspaper.
In spring 2022, Bob Diamond, a well-known banker and former employee of Credit Suisse, approached Axel Lehmann with a proposal. Diamond wanted to take over Credit Suisse's investment bank together with a group of investors. The plan envisaged that Credit Suisse would continue to hold 25 percent of the shares. This would have opened up new prospects for the bank.
At the time, Credit Suisse had already found a buyer for its asset management, who also wanted to pay CHF 5 billion. There was also an offer from the private equity company Apollo, which wanted to offer CHF 6 billion for the derivatives business. These sales would have provided the bank with much-needed liquidity.
Credit Suisse's investment bank was considered inefficient and strategically poorly positioned. Analysts even rated it negatively. The bank had tried for years to downsize the investment bank, but without success. The stock market slump and rising inflation in 2022 further exacerbated the problems.
In June 2022, the Board of Directors of Credit Suisse met for a strategy meeting to find solutions. However, instead of taking concrete measures, only a working group was formed. A month later, the Board of Directors announced its intention to make the bank more efficient and profitable. Ulrich Körner was appointed as the new CEO and a savings program of CHF 1.3 billion was announced.
Körner's savings program proved to be inadequate. The bank's earnings continued to fall and losses increased. Credit Suisse's share price fell by twelve percent in September 2022 and there was a massive withdrawal of client money.
During this critical phase, Lehmann finally rejected Diamond's offer.
Credit Suisse's new strategy, which was presented in October 2022, was met with skepticism. The plan to rename the investment bank First Boston and have it managed by Michael Klein was controversial. Klein and Blythe Masters, members of the strategy committee, were suspected of pursuing personal interests. Despite the obvious conflicts of interest, the bank denied any irregularities.
The Credit Suisse case is being investigated in a documentary film that will premiere on March 19. The film is based on the research of Arthur Rutishauser, editor-in-chief of SonntagsZeitung. On April 2, 2025, Rutishauser will discuss the causes and consequences of the bank collapse in Zurich.
The editor wrote this article with the help of AI.
