redit Suisse said Monday that its chairman has resigned following an internal investigation that reportedly found he violated quarantine rules intended to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.
The resignation of Antonio Horta-Osorio, a British-Portuguese national who took the job barely eight months ago, was announced shortly after midnight Monday. It is the latest upheaval at the top-drawer Swiss bank that has faced an array of recent troubles including bad bets on hedge funds and an internal spying scandal.
“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, 57, said in a statement from the bank, without elaborating.
“I therefore believe that my resignation is in the interest of the bank and its stakeholders at this crucial time.”
Axel Lehmann, a Swiss national and former executive at rival bank UBS who joined the Credit Suisse board in October, will take over as chairman.
Credit Suisse said Lehmann “succeeds Antonio Horta-Osório, who resigned following an investigation commissioned by the board.” It did not elaborate, and bank spokesman Dominik von Arx declined to comment beyond the news release
