Swiss bank Raiffeisen taps Basler's Lachappelle as chairman

Basler Kantonalbank

14/09/2018 07:34

ZURICH, Sept 14 (Reuters) - Swiss cooperative bank
Raiffeisen  RFSHW.UL  on Friday nominated turnaround expert Guy
Lachappelle as chairman and proposed four new directors as it
tries to emerge from months of tumult and scrutiny by
authorities.
    Lachappelle, a lawyer, has been chief executive of Basler
Kantonalbank  BSKP.S  since 2013.
    "Guy Lachappelle is a very experienced banker who identifies
with Raiffeisen's cooperative values and has successfully proved
himself in transformation processes," Deputy Chairman Pascal
Gantenbein said in a statement.
    Lachappelle said he was honoured to be chosen to head the
lender through what he called challenging times. 
    "Given my previous activities and experience I feel well
prepared to take on the chair of an organisation about to make
important decisions," he said. 
    Financial market supervisor FINMA said in June it had found
serious breaches at Raiffeisen in a probe related to fraud
allegations against former CEO Pierin Vincenz.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N1TG0HL
    It told Switzerland's third-largest bank, which is owned
cooperatively by 1.9 million customers and is not listed, to
conduct a detailed analysis of converting into a limited
company, a step that could improve corporate governance.
    Prosecutors are investigating Vincenz, who denies wrongdoing
but has been forced to resign, on suspicion of breach of trust
linked to cashless payments business Aduno as well as private
equity firm Investnet.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N1QK6DI
    Raiffeisen proposed four new supervisory board members,
including Thomas Mueller, chief risk officer at EFG
International  EFGN.S .

 (Reporting by Michael Shields; editing by Jason Neely)
 ((zurich.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com; +41 58 306 7336;))