Even though the man being blamed for the latest disasters to engulf Credit Suisse is an African, there can be little sympathy in our part of the world for this one-time venerable company. The Swiss institution whose roots go back to 1856, is rapidly becoming the poster boy for a rot deeply embedded within investment banks.
Read more: Alec Hogg: Our first scrape with censorship over keynote
Next month, it will be just two years since Credit Suisse was exposed as the main actor in a fraud and money laundering scheme that hammered impoverished Mozambique. At least $200m was siphoned from a $2bn bond raised for the socialist state, ostensibly to buy boats. Mozam’s ex-finance minister was one of many insiders to receive bribes and kickbacks.
The latest cockroaches to emerge from the Zurich kitchen are more sophisticated than their “Tuna Bond Scandal” cousin. They’re also decidedly bigger and nastier. Credit Suisse yesterday disclosed a $4.7bn loss in the Archegos debacle, where it lent a high roller money to punt on tech stocks. The bank is also the biggest loser in the Greensill “supply chain finance” scam.
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Read more: Alec Hogg: Thanks for keeping faith Cyril, so should we
The mess is the apparent consequence of a high-risk strategy adopted by Ivorian Tidjane Thiam, Credit Suisse CEO from 2015 to 2020. But on the BizNews Power Hour last night, new Tuesday evening co-host Steven Nathan said it is more a reflection of investment banking as a whole, where executives revel in a “heads we win, tails the bank loses” environment. Have a listen by clicking here. Hard to disagree after listening to this independent-minded financial insider.
- Long-time BizNews Premium subscriber Kenton Fine tells me his Servest Group’s SA arm has landed a coup by appointing former Massmart and Edcon boss Grant Pattison as CEO. When he took Servest public in 1998, Kenton was still in his 20s, the youngest of any JSE-listed CEO. Pattison, too, was a precocious talent, taking over at Massmart as a 36-year-old in 2007.
How to catch the BizNews Power Hour
The BizNews Power Hour is broadcast every evening from 5:30pm SA time. There are quite a few ways to catch it live:
- On our 24×7 live stream which is at https://iono.fm/s/141
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If you miss the live show, all recordings of BizNews Power Hour are available on:
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For your listening and viewing pleasure…..
- Latest audio on BizNews Radio…(click on the link to access)
- BPH: Steven Nathan; Earle Loxton; Jon Ovadia; Kookie Kooyman; Nick Hudson; Andrew Golding
- ‘I was horrified when SA didn’t use the AstraZeneca vaccine’ – Wendy Appelbaum
- PANDA’s Nick Hudson on his shot to fame; and real concern behind YouTube’s censorship
- FB: SA seals deal for Pfizer Covid-19 shots; Old Mutual backs LNG; China; Suez
- ‘What the government is doing to the wine industry is absolutely unacceptable’ – Wendy Appelbaum
- Cyril Ramaphosa – The Road to Presidential Power by Anthony Butler – By Mandela’s side
Latest videos on BizNews TV… (subscribe on YouTube)
