Corporate Governance - Credit Suisse

Running head: CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
Corporate governance is a framework of rules as well as practices with the help of
which the board of directors seeks accountability, justice as well as transparency within their
organisation keeping in mind its relationship with their stakeholders (McCahery, Sautner and
Starks 2016). Therefore, the primary role of the board of directors within the organisation is
to set strategic aims for the company and provide good leadership as well as put the latter into
effect and at the same time supervise the management of the business (McCahery, Sautner
and Starks 2016). The primary aim of the essay is to discuss about the scandal that occurred
at Credit Suisse. One of the first argument made in the article is about the spying scandal
where the former chief executive Tidjane Thiam had to quit from his post as he was involved
in the scandal where private detectives were hired to keep a check on senior executive in
Zurich that had put the reputation of one of Europe’s largest bank at stake (O'Donnell and
Neghaiwi 2020). It had also shocked Switzerland’s financial community as it was not
expected from the bank. People look up to banks as the latter provide people with solutions
and help people to differentiate between good and bad loans. If a bank is involved in such
scandal then people will start losing trust in banks (O'Donnell and Neghaiwi 2020). Second
argument in the article is what would happen to the career of Thiam after being involved in
such a scandal since Thiam cannot continue his office and the bank will now have to look for
an appropriate successor. The third argument in the article raises difficult questions regarding
culture as well as ethical standards (O'Donnell and Neghaiwi 2020). Since Khan hails from
Pakistan it might be that Thiam had racial prejudice against him which gave him a reason to
spy on Khan though he was an asset to the organisation who attracted wealthy customers
towards the bank (O'Donnell and Neghaiwi 2020).
Media has played a very essential role while reporting about the scandal that took
place in Europe’s one of the largest banks. Due to media coverage the incident garnered lot of
attention and led to the expulsion of the former CEO. The crisis that the organisation went

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CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
through not only fuelled public discussion but at the same time led people to pay attention to
topics of corporate governance and its importance related to management, compensation,
transparency as well as rights of the shareholders (Paniagua, Rivelles and Sapena 2018). The
media also encouraged public to demand for political regulations within the organisation that
would be strictly followed by every member of the bank as well as other financial
institutions. Media has helped in making evaluations regarding firms as well as leaders and
were at the same time able to broadcast vital information to the audience (Aguilera and
Crespi 2016). By highlighting the role of corporate governance in the credit Suisse scandal
media has been able to influence the reputation of the firm as well as its leaders in both
positive as well as negative way. Media has been able to collect, aggregate as well as amplify
information for its audience and has highlighted some of the crucial issues that needs to be
considered. By reporting the above arguments the media tries to show the discrepancy that
occurs even within the top organisations (Paniagua, Rivelles and Sapena 2018). Had the
media not intervened in the scandal the solution would not come up quickly. The media
coverage gave a chance to the organisation to rectify their mistakes and take quick actions so
that the reputation of the organisation is not affected (Yang, Liu and Zhou 2016). The media
also highlighted the crucial as well as a sensitive issue regarding culture that might be
prevalent within the organisation that eventually led to the scandal. The media intervention
also brought to light the conflict between Thiam as well as Khan that had occurred previously
(Yang, Liu and Zhou 2016). Lastly, media reporting on the above issue was essential as it
made the proceedings of the bank transparent for the audience to see and decide.
Corporate governance is essential as it ensures transparency as well as balance for
economic development. Corporate governance also ensures that shareholders interests are
safeguarded. It is also the interaction between different participants in shaping the
performance of the various corporations (De and Vlahu 2016). Furthermore, corporate