Who’s In, Who’s Out at Europe’s Biggest Banks
For job security, don’t run a large European bank.
This month alone, three of the continent’s largest lenders — UBS Group AG, Credit Suisse Group AG and ING Groep NV — announced their chief executive officers are leaving.
A fourth bank — UniCredit SpA — may face the potential loss of its boss, too, to larger rival HSBC Holdings Plc. That firm ousted its CEO in August. Societe Generale SA has been quietly seeking its next CEO for months.
Such is banking in the land of anemic growth, negative interest rates and a long list of scandals. It’s a place where Barclays Plc’s leadership almost seems stable: Last week the board felt compelled to express “full confidence” in its CEO as he faces another regulatory probe.
Banks across the region have been struggling to grow since the 2008 financial crisis and the sovereign debt crisis that followed. Firms ceded global market share to U.S. rivals that were faster to repair their balance sheets. Now they’re increasingly ceding leaders to each other, as restive boards look to bring in new blood to revive growth.
It can’t be good for business. The Bloomberg Europe Banks and Financial Services Index of 36 major lenders has declined about 30% over the past 10 years.
What follows is a list of the main players in this game of musical chairs, with no end in sight. Some CEOs have suggested the real solution is cross-border mergers that could create European champions strong enough to compete globally, taking pressure off boards to keep shaking up management. Yet regulations and national politics make such tie-ups hard, if not impossible.
The new bosses typically unveil new turnaround plans. And even in the rare case that one succeeds — as can be argued Credit Suisse’s recently departed CEO, Tidjane Thiam, was managing to do — there’s the chance that scandals will lead to the exit anyway.
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