[ad_1]
Former Credit Suisse CEO Tidjane Thiam is said to have experienced racism at the bank and in Switzerland. The focus was on Urs Rohner’s birthday party. Now the bank takes a position.
At the center of the debate: Urs Rohner (left) and Tidjane Thiam.
Racism is said to have played a bigger role than was assumed in the departure of former Credit Suisse chief Tidjane Thiam (58). The “New York Times” reported the weekend. The Ivorian faced racist incidents both in Swiss society and at the bank (we reported).
The focus of the accusations was a birthday party for the chairman of the board of directors, Urs Rohner, last year. Thiam is said to be the only black person there, until a black man disguised as a caretaker started singing on stage as he swept the floor. Later, it is said that Rohner’s friends performed a musical number for which they wore Afro wigs.
“Incorrect representation of the night”
As the newspaper reports, Thiam is said to have left the hall for a short time. Not all party participants perceived the events as racist. The scene with the caretaker was a Cirque du Soleil artist, says a person who attended the birthday party but does not want to be mentioned by name on Monday on this website. “From my point of view, the appearance had no racist component.” The Friends of Rohners production was also far from racism.
Credit Suisse has now commented. A spokesperson told The Guardian that the bank apologized for the incident and that someone may have felt attacked. It was never intended to offend anyone. “That is a totally misrepresentation of the evening,” he says in the statement.
Are you not apologizing to Thiam?
According to The Guardian, the Hasuwart number was one of nine or ten pieces performed by actors from Russia and China, for example. Neither Rohner nor the bank were involved in organizing the birthday party at a restaurant in Zurich. A friend of Thiam’s told the newspaper that there was no personal apology for him.
Credit Suisse can be quoted as saying that it has launched several initiatives to increase diversity within the bank. She is strongly committed to equality and diversity. Last year, it increased its commitment to underrepresented groups in the bank and will continue to do so. As a company, the bank prides itself on being culturally and geographically diverse. CS wants to further strengthen this culture. A total of almost 50,000 employees work at the large bank.
Rohner defended Thiam
The racist incidents occurred before the celebration. Thiam’s homeland, Ivory Coast, was denigrated in the comment columns of the finance blog “Inside Paradeplatz.” At Credit Suisse it was “time to clean up, because the business practices allowed in sub-Saharan Africa have no place here,” she said. Thiam took note of these comments (we reported). The bank and Thiam also received emails and letters with inappropriate content. This had led to solidarity with him on the board of directors.
This even delayed Thiam’s planned firing, which the board of directors really wanted to announce sooner after a second victim was known in the spying affair. Here’s what insiders reported. The chairman of the board of directors, Urs Rohner, denied having a connection in an interview with “Switzerland on the weekend” in February and condemned the racist attacks “strongly”. They are “unacceptable”.
