Zurich António Horta-Osório, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Credit Suisse, could not have foreseen the consequences of his business trip when he got off the company’s private jet at Zurich Airport on a Sunday at the end of November.
Horta-Osório came from London, where the first cases of the Omicron corona variant appeared at the time. Switzerland had therefore shortly beforehand put the United Kingdom on the “list of countries with a worrisome virus variant”. For returnees, this meant ten-day quarantine.
The corona measures introduced at short notice by the Swiss authorities did not match the top manager’s travel plan. Horta-Osório wanted to travel to the Iberian Peninsula three days later. But instead of adjusting the plans, he ignored the quarantine regulations in Switzerland. The fact that Switzerland removed all countries from the risk warning list on December 4 did not help the Credit Suisse chief inspector.
And so he only had a voluntary report to the authorities, which was first reported by the tabloid “Blick”. Horta-Osório was rueful: “I unintentionally violated the Swiss quarantine regulations by leaving the country prematurely on December 1st,” he was quoted in a message. “I sincerely regret this mistake. I apologize and will see to it that this does not happen again. “
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That could have ended the affair. Instead, the Chairman made the problems with the apology bigger. They should lead to a warning from the board of directors, as the “Tagesanzeiger” now reports. The supervisory body, which he chairs himself, shows Horta-Osório the yellow card.
In a private jet to Wimbledon
Because initially the “Blick” revealed that the bank hired the liberal politician and renowned health expert Felix Gutzwiller as a consultant. He was supposed to get Horta-Osório in Bern a special permit to leave the country. But the authorities blocked themselves. The Credit Suisse President took off anyway. His apology for inadvertently violating quarantine rules has since seemed implausible.
According to media reports, an internal investigation also revealed that Horta-Osório is said to have violated Corona entry regulations a second time – this time in Great Britain. The Portuguese traveled to the final of the tennis classic Wimbledon in mid-July. He would also have had to go into quarantine after arriving in London. Credit Suisse has not commented on the affair since then.
Horta-Osório, who came to the scandal-ridden Credit Suisse in May 2021 as a tough reorganizer, has lost control of his image. He now has the reputation of an aloof banker who defies regulations and uses the company’s private jet to indulge in his hobby, tennis. The mere fact that all the results of internal investigations have been punctured is regarded in financial circles as an indication that the authority of the chief controller has suffered.
The affair is also uncomfortable for the top external board member, Severin Schwan. He is CEO of Roche in the main office. As the head of a health care company, Schwan cannot tolerate any behavior that makes the virus more likely to spread.
The bank said in December: “Credit Suisse regrets that there has been a breach of quarantine regulations in connection with its President’s travel activities. Compliance with the applicable laws and guidelines is a top priority for Credit Suisse and for the President himself. ”This is how Horta-Osório will have to be measured in the future.
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