Former Credit Suisse CEO John Mack Praises UBS Chair — Says Swiss Banks Should 'Open Up The Vault' More

John Mack, the former CEO of Credit Suisse Group AG CS, reportedly heaped praises on UBS Group AG UBS Chairman Colm Kelleher, saying the banker is smart and is a natural leader.

"I think as a first-class leader clearly he’s very smart and I think working together through the crisis, it showed that he was able to keep his financial team on board. In other words, people were close to panicking and he calmed them down and I gave him a little bit of help on that. But he did it. So he’s a natural leader and I think he’s a natural for what he’s going to do in Switzerland," Mack told Bloomberg TV.

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Following UBS' deal announcement to takeover Credit Suisse, developments surrounding the merger are still filtering through. Swiss Government's Federal Council said in a statement it has acknowledged that the Federal Department of Finance (FDF) is temporarily suspending certain forms of variable remuneration for Credit Suisse employees.

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Relationship: Mack also reflected on the time he spent at the Swiss lender and talked about his relationship with the bank.

"They said I am the most arrogant person they ever met and I said they are the stupidest people I have ever dealt with. So we had a great relationship. As soon as my contract was up they shot me. So it was fine," he said in the interview.

The former Credit Suisse CEO also voiced his opinion on what Swiss banks should be focussing on going forward. "They’re great banks, they just needed to open up the vault a little more and not be so secretive," he said.

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