Scenes from the firm’s final annual general meeting
from the brink of collapse on March 19th, the troubled bank’s shareholders seemed lucky to avoid a total loss on their investment. Yet if any of the 1,700 who entered Zurich’s Hallenstadion on April 4th for the firm’s final annual general meeting were relieved, they did not show it. Tickets to the historic event were cheap: the terms of the rescue deal, which was agreed without a shareholder vote, valued Credit Suisse’s shares at a mere SFr0.76 .
Opening eulogies were delivered by Axel Lehmann, the firm’s chairman, and Ulrich Körner, its chief executive. Votes to award bosses extra pay and absolve them of blame for actions taken during the past financial year were scrapped, along with the bank’s dividend. Five members of the board did not seek re-election. The remaining seven have the unenviable task of guiding the bank through its twilight months before the deal closes later this year.
The arena transformed into a court when shareholders took their turn to speak. Some owners counselled Mr Lehmann on the many failures of his bank’s recent history. Others were inconsolable. One “joked” that he had neglected to bring his gun. Another wondered if the firm’s bosses might have been crucified for their actions in the Middle Ages. A man graced the podium with a fistful of empty walnut shells.
Instead, a sea of largely Swiss shareholders shook their heads in unison. They represent 87% of Credit Suisse’s owners, even if they hold a tenth of shares. Many are furious at the death of the 167-year-old institution. One poll found that more than three-quarters of Swiss people, mourning a national champion and angry at the level of state support, want the deal undone. Discomfort might grow asbegins an integration process likely to claim thousands of jobs.
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