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Credit Suisse CEO Thiam rules out political career - Le Temps

September 06, 2018 at 12:14 pm EDT

ZURICH (Reuters) - Credit Suisse Chief Executive Tidjane Thiam has ruled himself out as a candidate for political office in his native Ivory Coast and intends to stay at the helm of Switzerland's second-biggest bank for some time, he told a Swiss newspaper.

Asked about calls in Ivory Coast for him to run for president, he told Le Temps he was "touched and honoured" by the support he has received, but added:

"I have said many times and for many years my determination not to be politically active."

The paper said he cited his "long-term commitment" as head of Credit Suisse, which is in the final year of a three-year revamp he initiated to focus more on wealth management and less on investment banking.

Ivory Coast presidential elections are due in 2020.

Credit Suisse's website posted a statement from him saying:

"I have made a long-term commitment to Credit Suisse and its clients, employees and investors, that I will lead this bank. Having spent three years at the helm of Credit Suisse, my task is not yet completed and I have every intention of continuing with it.

"The strategy that we have designed for Credit Suisse and are executing with discipline is delivering good results. I therefore intend to remain in post as CEO of Credit Suisse and to oversee the development of our activities following this period of deep restructuring."

(Reporting by Michael Shields; Editing by Kirsten Donovan;Editing by Kirsten Donovan)

Stocks mentioned in the article

	Add to a list Add to a list 0 selected To use this feature you must be a member Log in Sign up	Price	Change	5d. change	Capi.
	CREDIT SUISSE GROUP AG	0.817 CHF	-.--%	+0.84%	3.57B
	SWISS RE LTD	99.5 CHF	-1.24%	+1.53%	32.01B

Tidjane Thiam

Tidjane Thiam (born 29 July 1962) is an Ivorian businessman and former politician who is the Chief Executive of Prudential plc, the UK-based insurance group. Born in Côte d'Ivoire, he holds dual Ivorian and French citizenship. He studied advanced mathematics and physics in France before joining the management consultants [& Company] in 1986, where he worked until 1994. From 1994 to 1999 he worked in Côte d'Ivoire first as Chief Executive of the National Bureau for Technical Studies (BNETD), reporting directly to the Prime Minister and the President, and from 1998 as both Chairman of the BNETD and Minister of Planning and Development. Following the Ivorian coup of 1999, he resumed a private sector career and rejoined McKinsey in Paris from 2000 to 2002, then worked as a senior executive for Aviva before being recruited by Prudential. When appointed the chief executive of Prudential in 2009, he became the first black person to lead a FTSE 100 company.

His father, Amadou Thiam, a journalist, was born in Senegal and emigrated to Côte d'Ivoire in 1947. He supported Houphouet-Boigny in his fight for the independence of the country and served more than 10 years in the Ivorian cabinet after independence. He was a Grand Officier de la Legion d’honneur, France’s highest order of decoration. Tidjane’s uncle, Habib Thiam, was Prime Minister of Senegal for more than 10 years and also served as President of the National Assembly.

In 1982 Thiam was the first Ivorian to pass the entrance examination to the École Polytechnique in Paris. In 1984, he graduated from the École Polytechnique and in 1986 from the École Nationale Supérieure des Mines de Paris where he was top of his class. He received an MBA from INSEAD in 1988 (Dean's list). In 1989 he took a one-year sabbatical from McKinsey to participate in the World Bank's Young Professionals Program in Washington, D.C. He returned to McKinsey in 1990, working first in New York City and then in Paris. an infrastructure development and economic advisory body with more than 4,000 staff, reporting directly to the President and the Prime Minister. In that role, which had cabinet rank, he was also handling key negotiations with the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. Thiam was also a key member of the Privatization Committee, in charge of privatising extensive state-owned assets.

Source @ Wikipedia

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