The Credit Suisse top management around CEO Thomas Gottstein is trying everything to make risk manager Lara Warner appear as the main person responsible for the Greensill debacle.
Whisperers act in the background, then explosive headlines emerge at the front. Warner had given Greensill a huge loan against reservations of its own risk people, reported yesterday die Financial Times.
It’s about a line of credit up to a maximum of 160 million dollars, granted last October, when Greensill had long been highly controversial in the financial industry. According to Greensill attorneys, 140 million are gone.
Less than half a year later, the Australian’s financial tower collapsed, and CS could be the main victim.
Warner knew Greensill and his main customer, an Indian magnate, personally. The latter bought up the European steel industry with Greensills billions that came from Swiss PKs.
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Gupta flew to Switzerland in February. He met with heads of the CS and the Zuger Glencore. He wanted to make a steel mill in Dunkirk in northern France attractive.
This makes Lara Warner, a US-Australian dual citizen who made it from analyst to powerful CS manager, the perfect target for the media.
Thomas Gottstein’s internal helpers ensure that everything related to Greensill and the Indian customer named Gupta ends up at Warner – and nothing at Gottstein.
The press office explicitly left questions about Warner unanswered instead of protecting them. Black peter game at its finest.
It is likely that Warner can no longer be held because of her OK for the Greensill loan, which could now fail.
But then Gottstein would have to stand and say this. Explain what is going on. The crisis surrounding Greensill and its funds, which are no longer valuable, will now last almost two weeks.
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With every day without a clear message internally and externally, the damage increases. Yesterday it was said that customers were withdrawing assets from CS on a large scale. A spokesman denied that.
According to the Financial Times, the bank has deployed advisors and experts from inside and outside the case. Several regulators, including Finma in Bern, have opened investigations.
Apparently, the highest committee of the CS has now recognized the seriousness of the situation. According to an insider, board members would ask tough questions to the bank’s CEO Gottstein.
Gottstein comes from investment banking, he grew up with companies that he brought to the stock exchange. Including the Glencore.
It can be assumed that Gottstein met the Indian steel magnate Gupta personally during his recent visit.
The CS has so far not announced anything, while it emphasizes that Gottstein only phoned Greensill once, last spring.
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The problem for Gottstein is that he’s not just Lara Warner’s manager. He is also known for taking risks around big deals.
It is difficult to imagine that Warner can wave a loan to a financier who has long been controversial within the bank and warn against the risk people in London without the blessing of their direct boss Gottstein.
All the more so as Gottstein is familiar with the raw materials industry with his past and thus has a connection to Gupta, Glencore and other major players in the industry.
Everything indicates that Gottstein is trying to get to safety by leaving his risk boss Warner out in the rain.
The same thing happened this week with those responsible in asset management. They were easy prey for Gottstein, after their release the CEO could assume that they would end up in the media crossfire.
It is still uncertain whether Gottstein will succeed in portraying himself as a deceived person and thus a victim of others in the affair.
It was Gottstein himself who carried out a rigorous investigation in CS asset management after an initial whirlwind surrounding the Greensill funds.
This took place last spring. In the summer, Gottstein then ordered to resolve some intransparent entanglements in the fund.
The subject of greensill and supply chain funds was on the CEO’s desk at the time. In the fall, a loan was obtained to help Greensill put his company on a more stable footing.
Gottstein’s defense lawyers say that if the CEO had spoken out against the loan at the time, the Greensill house of cards would have collapsed in the fall. Gottstein bought his time with the loan – in the hope that Greensill would recover.
The argument stands on shaky feet. If Greensill is indeed a criminal, then last fall’s lending would have been negligent.
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