Credit Suisse boss quits over alleged Covid rule breaches

The chairman of Credit Suisse, António Horta-Osório , has resigned after the Swiss bank found that he had broken Covid-19 quarantine laws, with attendance at the Wimbledon tennis tournament thought to be among the allegations .

- Jasper Jolly

“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,” he said in a statement issued by Credit Suisse yesterday.

“I therefore believe that my resignation is in the interest of the bank and its stakeholders at this crucial time.” He had admitted breaking Swiss quarantine rules. It means that Horta-Osório managed less than a year in the job, after he was brought in to steady the bank after a series of expensive failures, including its involvement in the collapse of Archegos , an investment company, and Greensill Capital, a supply chain finance firm.

The board is understood to have held talks with Horta-Osório over the weekend informing him of the findings of its investigations into a series of alleged breaches of Covid-19 rules .

The alleged UK breach emerged in December , after Reuters reported it had been discovered through a preliminary investigation by Credit Suisse’s legal team. The news came just weeks after Horta-Osório admitted that he had breached Covid rules in Switzerland , having flown out within three days of arriving on 28 November despite being required to quarantine for 10 days.