Credit Suisse Boss Forced Out Over Quarantine-Busting Wimbledon Trip
CLEAR OUT
The chairman of global banking group Credit Suisse Group, brought in to clean up the firm’s image after a series of embarrassing scandals, has been forced to resign after just nine months for breaking COVID travel rules. António Horta-Osório breached U.K. quarantine rules when he flew to London to watch the Wimbledon tennis finals on July 10 and 11 without completing the required 10 days isolation on arrival. He then broke Swiss rules when he flew from London to Zurich on Nov. 28 by failing to stick by a 10-day quarantine requirement. Horta-Osório said the “mistake” was “unintentional,” but this was undermined by reports in Swiss media that he had sought and been denied quarantine exemptions ahead of the trip. Horta-Osório was brought in to clean up Credit Suisse after it was rocked by the Greensill Capital and Archegos scandals, which cost it $5.5 billion. A Credit Suisse source told the Financial Times: “The most important thing this bank needs is for it to be quiet. What happened around him was not helpful.”