Credit Suisse chairman resigns after quarantine questions

(Jan 17): Credit Suisse Group AG's chairman Antonio Horta-Osorio resigned following scrutiny over reported quarantine breaches, an abrupt departure for a leader who had been tasked with guiding the Swiss banking giant past a series of scandals.

Zurich-based Credit Suisse named board member Axel P Lehmann as his replacement following an investigation commissioned by the board, it said in a statement.

Last month, the bank said it "regretfully acknowledged" that Horta-Osorio breached quarantine rules by leaving Switzerland before his period of isolation was over. Later, Reuters reported that the Portuguese banker attended the Wimbledon tennis finals in London in early July, a period when arrivals from Europe were obliged to undergo a period of quarantine.

"I regret that a number of my personal actions have led to difficulties for the bank and compromised my ability to represent the bank internally and externally," Horta-Osorio said in the statement. "I therefore believe that my resignation is in the interest of the bank and its stakeholders at this crucial time."

Horta-Osorio, who was appointed as the chairman in April, had been trying to steer Credit Suisse past a disastrous year when the collapse of Archegos Capital Management and the freezing of funds tied to Greensill Capital caused billions of dollars in losses and led to the departure of numerous senior managers.

Lehmann was elected to Credit Suisse's board in October and had been serving as the chair of the risk committee. He joined the bank from rival UBS Group AG, where his roles included running the Swiss personal and corporate banking business. Before that, Lehmann spent nearly two decades at Zurich Insurance Group AG in roles that included the chief risk officer.

The board will formally propose him for election as the chairman in an annual shareholder meeting on April 29.

"We have set the right course with the new strategy and will continue to embed a stronger risk culture across the firm," Lehmann said in the statement.