Politicians demand access to Finma documents
Keystone-SDA
Swiss politicians are demanding the public disclosure of confidential financial watchdog documents relating to the Greensill scandal at collapsed bank Credit Suisse.
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The documents are currently playing an important role in a London trial. Swiss parliamentarians want the financial market supervisory authority (Finma) evidence made available in Switzerland, reports the Sonntagszeitung newspaper.
The Finma documents submitted in the London court proceedings showed not least that the Credit Suisse management had been warned against working with the Australian investor Lex Greensill, various British media have reported in recent days.
The scandal surrounding the liquidation of the “Greensill funds” worth around $10 billion placed with wealthy investors is considered one of the reasons for the downfall of Credit Suisse and its takeover by rival UBS.
+ Swiss bank watchdog ‘blundered on Credit Suisse’
Naively exploited
In a civil case in London, UBS is claiming damages of CHF440 million from the Japanese investment company Softbank in connection with the funds based on Greensill Capital financial products. According to British media reports, Softbank has brought the Finma documents, which were previously kept under lock and key, into the proceedings in order to strengthen its defence.
+ Where did it all go wrong for Credit Suisse?
According to these documents, Credit Suisse managers had allowed themselves to be “naively” exploited by Lex Greensill despite numerous warnings. Former Credit Suisse executive Eric Varvel also defended himself in the London court hearing against accusations that he had given the board of directors a false picture of the situation.
The Finma files apparently also show how Lex Greensill was able to play off various interests within the bank against each other. For example, the Australian investor had promised managers that he would reduce risky business relationships with Sanjeev Gupta’s steel empire GFG Alliance. In fact, he actually expanded them.
Swiss probe active
The investigation into the Greensill scandal has not yet been completed in Switzerland either, so these documents could also contain some explosive material in this country. The Zurich public prosecutor’s office is still investigating the matter, and various “unsealing proceedings” have been ongoing since 2021.
Meanwhile, it is unclear whether four Finma enforcement proceedings against former Credit Suisse managers are still ongoing or have been concluded.
A proposal by Swiss People’s Party parliamentarian Rémy Wyssmann now aims to ensure that Finma is also subject to the public disclosure act. Wyssmann is currently looking for further supporters for his initiative in parliament, whereby he has supporters not only in his own party but also among the Greens.
However, there is also opposition to the proposal. For example, David Wyss, a lawyer and former member of Finma’s Executive Board, believes that subjecting Finma to the public disclosure act would be “highly toxic” due to the amount of “really sensitive data”.
However, he admits to the Sonntagszeitung that there would have been more room for manoeuvre for Finma in the Greensill case.
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Translated from German by DeepL/mga
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