Zurich Probe Shows No 'Undue Pressure' Put on Late CFO
(Corrects to say comment from de Swaan in fourth paragraph.)
Zurich Insurance Group AG (ZURN), Switzerland 's biggest insurer, said a probe into the suicide of Pierre Wauthier showed that no 'undue pressure' was exerted on the late chief financial officer.
'The investigations found no indication that Pierre Wauthier was subjected to any undue or inappropriate pressure,' according to the outcome of an internal review after Wauthier mentioned former Chairman Josef Ackermann in a suicide note.
On Aug. 26, Wauthier was found dead at his home, less than two weeks after the company missed analysts' profit estimates in both of the last two reported quarters and said it was 'more challenging' to reach targets. Ackermann, 65, announced his resignation three days later.
'We are still deeply saddened by the loss of Pierre Wauthier and we are unable to explain the motivation behind his tragic decision,' Chairman Tom de Swaan said in a statement.
Wauthier was the second senior Swiss executive in five weeks to take his life after Carsten Schloter, 49, CEO of Swisscom AG (SCMN), Switzerland's biggest phone company, was found dead at his home on July 23.
Wauthier's suicide sparked fresh doubts about Zurich Insurance's financial health and forced Zurich to commission an investigation into the working relationship between its executives and the supervisory board.
A separate review showed that the 'presentation of the financial figures was confirmed as appropriate,' Zurich said in today's statement. Both probes were conducted under the direction of the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority, it said.
To contact the reporter on this story: Zoe Schneeweiss in Zurich at zschneeweiss@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Frank Connelly at fconnelly@bloomberg.net
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