Thu, Mar 14th 2024
A year after the CS bank debacle, the National Council demands accountability from top bank executives.
One year after the failure of the major bank CS, the National Council is insisting that the top executives of systemically important banks be held accountable. If such a bank fails and the federal government has to step in with public funds, the bank’s top management should be financially liable.
On Wednesday, the National Council approved a motion by Thomas Burgherr (SVP/AG) by 120 votes to 55, with 18 abstentions. It now goes to the Council of States.
Specifically, the proposal calls for a salary waiver in cases of poor management by the top management of a systemically important bank. If the top management “drives such a bank to the wall”, the top management should have to pay back 50 percent of the total income of the previous ten years to the bank.
Burgherr recalled the rescue operations of the major banks UBS – in 2008 – and CS a year ago. Such crises must be prevented in future, he demanded.
Finance Minister Karin Keller-Sutter rejected the motion. She said that the Federal Council would present its too-big-to-fail report on the CS crisis in April. The report will also address the responsibility of CS’s top executives. A few weeks before the report is published, it makes no sense to decide on new measures.
©Keystone/SDA
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