Credit Suisse Chair's COVID Snafu Raises Questions

 

Zurich-based Credit Suisse was forced into admitting that Chairman António Horta-Osório violated quarantine rules related to high-risk countries when leaving Switzerland for Lisbon earlier this month. The Swiss bank said the Portuguese-British banker had done so unknowingly.

The Swiss tabloid which brought Horta-Osório's travel to light cast doubt on this version, reporting on Friday that he had enlisted Felix Gutzwiller, a well-connected Swiss former politician and epidemiologist, to ask how his ten-day quarantine could be shortened or suspended.

In The Dark Or Knowingly?

Gutzwiller, who remains influential in local political circles, told the bank that Horta-Osório needed to hew to the quarantine imposed on travelers from so-called high-risk countries, «Blick» (in German) reported on Friday. This contradicts Credit Suisse's statement that Horta-Osório had left Switzerland without knowing he was meant to stay put.

Credit Suisse officials reportedly grew so concerned over Horta-Osório's actions that they nudged him to inform Finma proactively of the issue. Because a knowing violation of COVID rules could have questioned his fitness and probity, Horta-Osório told the Swiss regulator he wasn't aware he would have been required to quarantine, the outlet suggests.