CS Ramp Up HR Following Sexual Harassment Incident

Credit Suisse appoints Conduct and Ethics Ombudswoman 2 weeks after MD allegedly gropes summer interns.

Just over 2 weeks ago, Dealbreaker published an article outlining a sexual harassment incident allegedly occurring between an MD and a group of summer interns. According to Dealbreaker's source, CS were doing their best to cover up the incident.

Per our tipster, “Group is now telling interns to hush or face repercussions if it leaks…They are going to let him off with a HR lecture.”

Well, apparently Credit Suisse did think some changes needed to be made, with Reuter's publishing an exclusive story detailing the new role at CS: Conduct and Ethics Ombudswoman

As per the article, CS is not saying the creation of this role is in direct response to June's incident, instead a decision that was months in the making.

“A few months ago, I had asked Lara Warner, Peter Goerke and Romeo Cerutti [co-chairs of the bank's conduct and ethics board] to review our global approach to the handling of claims of sexual harassment at Credit Suisse,” Chief Executive Tidjane Thiam said in an internal memo seen by Reuters

Many banks do not have a dedicated channel for sexual harassment claims, instead opting to handle those incidents through an HR department, however Antoinette Poschung, the new Conduct and Ethics Ombudswoman, will be directly responsible for sexual harassment claims, as well as reviewing CS's current procedures for sexual harassment complaints. Poschung will also be retroactively looking over past complaints to ensure proper action was carried out.

Is Credit Suisse's appointment of this role just a face-saving measure after the recent incident?

Do you guys think that the introduction of this role will have any effect on the culture around sexual harassment at CS?