The Portuguese-British banker is behind the purchase of 1.1 million Swiss francs ($1.2 million) worth of Credit Suisse shares disclosed in a management transaction to the Swiss stock exchange, «Bloomberg» reported on Tuesday. The transaction comes days after António Horta Osório took over from Urs Rohner on Friday in the midst of a maelstrom.

The big bet is a show of confidence in Credit Suisse following a $1.9 billion cash call after it stumbled over Archegos, amid a major risk-taking bid gone wrong in the first quarter. The current crisis, which Horta-Osório termed the worst he has ever faced, follows a series of missteps last year including «spygate», which have tarnished the Swiss bank's reputation.

Dwarfed By Ex-UBS CEO

Horta-Osório (pictured below) vowed to focus on Credit Suisse's risk-taking, strategy, and culture, amid concerns over its future. His personal bet is dwarfed by the $13.1 million ex-UBS CEO Sergio Ermotti splashed out for 1 million shares in that bank in 2018.

 Then again, while Horta-Osório has ranked among the top-paid bankers in the U.K., he hasn't approached «Swiss» pay levels. Lloyds paid him £3.44 million ($4.77 million) for 2020, his last full year running the British bank.

Catching Up To Swiss

By contrast, UBS paid Ermotti 13.3 million francs for the same period, taking his realized pay to more than 60 million francs in nine years running the Swiss wealth manager. Current UBS boss Ralph Hamers was paid 4.2 million francs for four months (two understudying Ermotti, then November and December fully in charge).

Horta-Osório is catching up though: «The current compensation structure will remain unchanged, including fee levels for the chairman,» according to a passage in Credit Suisse's annual report. Rohner's pay was originally $5.1 million for last year, until he had to back down when the extent of Archegos' wreckage surfaced.