Friday April 16, 2010
Credit
During the big bank’s annual shareholder meeting in Basel, some 4,700 stockholders representing 1.7 billion shares, voted by a margin of 53 per cent to reject recommendations by the current board to absolve executives from all responsibility for the bank’s staggering subprime losses that prompted a SFr 60 billion federal bailout.
“Imagine: Managers selling their own shares worth SFr150 million at high market conditions through the summer…and then presenting SFr50 billion in losses. To absolve them of that, that’s too much for even the most good-natured shareholder,” the paper said.
Jesse's Cafe with this news item today. The upshot is that Swiss Bankers, like American bankers, made bad bets, lost huge amounts of money, the stock price tanked, the Swiss Govt had to bail them out, then in the ensuing rally, the officers sold shares they no doubt voted themselves at low prices, profited, and presented shareholders with 50 B in Swiss Franc losses. Not surprisingly the Board, as usual in the vest pocket of mangement, voted to give the managers a pass on their mistakes. The shareholders did not. This is true ethical reform.
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