Raiffeisen Switzerland CEO Heinz Huber steps down unexpectedly
Published: Wednesday, Dec 18th 2024, 11:00
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Raiffeisen Switzerland CEO Heinz Huber is surprisingly stepping down and leaving the company at the turn of the year. This leaves the country's second largest banking group after UBS in search of a new CEO.
After almost six years, Huber will step down on December 31, 2024, Raiffeisen Switzerland announced on Wednesday. This is because he intends to move to the strategic management level in July 2025 and become Chairman of Graubündner Kantonalbank (GKB).
On January 1, 2025, Christian Poerschke, Head of the Finance and Services Department and Deputy Chairman of the Executive Board at Raiffeisen Switzerland, will take over for him on an interim basis.
Internal and external successor possible
After a dismissal and a change of position within the industry, it is customary to release the manager promptly in order to protect the company's interests, a media spokesperson told the news agency AWP when asked about the abrupt departure.
The succession process has been initiated by the Board of Directors, Raiffeisen Switzerland added. According to the spokesperson, both internal and external candidates will be considered. He did not want to say how far the search had progressed.
With the bank since 2019
Huber took over as Raiffeisen CEO at the beginning of 2019 after four years as CEO of Thurgauer Kantonalbank (TKB). His predecessor at Raiffeisen Switzerland, Patrik Gisel, in turn succeeded him as CEO internally, having already worked for the bank for many years.
"Heinz Huber took over as CEO of Raiffeisen Switzerland at a very challenging time and always managed the company prudently and successfully with a steady hand," said Chairman of the Board of Directors Thomas Müller in the press release. The entire Supervisory Board thanks him "for his great commitment".
Time of upheaval after the Vincenz scandal
In March 2019 - shortly after Huber took office - the Raiffeisen Group had to announce a slump in profits for the 2018 financial year. At the time, the result was mainly impacted by valuation adjustments for the participations acquired under former Group CEO Pierin Vincenz. Group profit fell by 41 percent to 540.8 million francs.
The year before Huber took over was a year of reappraisal and a new start for Raiffeisen following the scandal surrounding the former CEO, which had shaken up the banking group. Vincenz is alleged to have personally cashed in on company takeovers. In April 2022, he was convicted of embezzlement, falsification of documents and fraud. However, on February 20, 2024, the High Court of the Canton of Zurich overturned the verdict and referred the case back to the lower court.
Over the past six years, Raiffeisen has expanded all business areas under Huber. The Group's income thus reached 4.1 billion Swiss francs last year. Raiffeisen Switzerland increased its profit to 1.39 billion. The cooperatively organized banking group with almost 220 Raiffeisen banks employs over 11,000 people.
Fanconi stays with GKB until Huber arrives
Graubündner Kantonalbank (GKB) announced at the end of July that Bank President Peter Fanconi would be stepping down prematurely at the PS Meeting in 2025. He was originally re-elected for a third term of office from 2022 until the end of March 2026.
Fanconi recently came under pressure in connection with GKB's controversial lending to investor René Benko's collapsed Austrian real estate group Signa. However, the audit report commissioned in this regard exonerated the Chairman.
Huber, who has a second home in Graubünden, has now been elected as the new Chairman by the Graubünden government for a term of office from July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2029. To ensure a seamless transition, Fanconi will remain Chairman of the Bank until the end of June 2025.
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