NEW DELHI: Former Swiss finance minister Ueli Maurer defended his response to the Swiss banking crisis, stating that temporary nationalisation was never a realistic option for Credit Suisse.
“The state would suddenly have to run a globally active bank that is dirty everywhere and involved in legal cases. How would that work?” Maurer said.
He faced criticism for his hands-off approach to Credit Suisse and for suggesting that the bank should be left alone for a year or two. Credit Suisse was eventually taken over by UBS to create a Swiss banking and wealth management powerhouse.
“There was a chance that Credit Suisse could have solved this on its own,” Maurer said of the troubled bank’s problems,
Additionally he added that primarily management, then the board of directors, the auditors, the financial regulator and the Swiss National Bank have the responsibility for a bank.
Maurer believed that Credit Suisse had the potential to solve its problems on its own and that UBS made a good deal. While he expressed a desire for Switzerland to have two large banks, he considered the UBS takeover as the best solution given the situation and history of Credit Suisse.
