Meltdown : Scandal, Sleaze and the Collapse of Credit Suisse - Duncan Mavin

Meltdown

Scandal, Sleaze and the Collapse of Credit Suisse

By: Duncan Mavin

Paperback | 7 November 2024

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"This is more than a richly detailed story about the hubris, corruption and incompetence that doomed Credit Suisse; it's a stark warning to all of us about what happens when we let bankers do what they like" - Oliver Bullough, bestselling author of Butler to the World

--- For centuries, Swiss banks have served the globe's wealthiest individuals, employing a strict culture of anonymity and gaining massive wealth in the process. But when Credit Suisse collapsed, the veil of secrecy came down and the world was suddenly privy to the corruption, scandal and empty hubris that keep our biggest banks alive.

It was a 166-year-old bastion of Swiss banking, amongst the most important and influential financial institutions in the world - but a veneer of high-class service disguised a darker, dirtier reality. From its sterile Zurich headquarters, the bank catered to a clientele that included dictators, drug dealers and former Nazi officers, and helped fleece its own clients out of billions of dollars. This continued for decades, even as Credit Suisse continued to expand, acquiring smaller banks and granting its own executives lucrative bonus contracts.

Meltdown is the story of how the house of cards fell apart. Bloomberg investigative journalist and bestselling author of Pyramid of Lies Duncan Mavin takes readers inside the bank's hushed marble corridors, detailing its secretive culture and the series of increasingly selfish decisions, made by a handful of men at the top, which ultimately led to disaster.

This is the fascinating history of one of the biggest financial institutions of our times - and a thrilling expose of the wider financial services sector - which promises to give readers a shocking and brutally honest look into a previously-unknown world of greed, lies and unrelenting human ambition.

--- "We're used by now to bankers behaving badly, but Duncan Mavin takes it to another shocking, anger-inducing level. Credit Suisse stood for priority, but he shows this to be a total fabrication" - Chris Blackhurst, former editor of The Independent and bestselling author of Too Big to Jail

About the Author

Duncan Mavin is a seasoned international financial journalist, having started his career as a chartered accountant in the City and in Toronto. He has been a reporter and editor for The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post, and was the Journal's Financial Editor for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. He has also been Managing Editor for Barron's Group and a reporter for Canada's National Post, and he's the bestselling author of "Britain's version of Bad Blood", the Lex Greensill expose Pyramid of Lies. He lives with his family in the UK, and is a long-suffering fan of Sunderland football club.
Industry Reviews
This isn't just a richly detailed story about the hubris, corruption and incompetence that doomed Credit Suisse, it's a stark warning to all of us about what happens when we let bankers do what they like -- Oliver Bullough, bestselling author of Butler to the World

A riveting autopsy of Credit Suisse's dramatic downfall, Mavin's Meltdown expertly dissects decades of scandal and hubris. This meticulously researched expose reveals how one of banking's titans gradually, then suddenly, crumbled under the weight of its own misdeeds -- Bradley Hope, New York Times bestselling author of Billion Dollar Whale and Blood and Oil

We're used by now to bankers behaving badly, yet Duncan Mavin takes it to another, shocking, anger-inducing level. Credit Suisse stood for propriety, but starting with the Holocaust and ending with the vast bank's sudden collapse, he shows this to be a total fabrication -- Chris Blackhurst, bestselling author of Too Big to Jail and The World's Biggest Cash Machine

Meltdown offers a gripping and meticulously researched account of Credit Suisse's downfall. Mavin uses vivid storytelling and deep insider knowledge to unravel the long history of scandal, hubris, and mismanagement that ultimately led to the bank's collapse. This financial thriller of a book offers a tantalising glimpse into the rot at the heart of one of the world's most powerful banks -- Parmy Olson, bestselling author of We Are Anonymous and Supremacy

Through deep meticulous reporting and compelling storytelling, Mavin chronicles the gradual, quiet demise-and then shockingly sudden collapse-of what was once one of the world's most trusted financial institutions. A gripping story of power, greed and panic, and a humbling reminder of the enormous cost of capitalism going awry -- Josie Cox, author of Women, Money and Power

Pulling no punches and naming names, Mavin lays out an almost comically scandalous story with dry humour, connecting the granular details of how it happened to the big picture - a decades-long saga of corporate folly. Swiss bank secrecy laws emerge as the villain, protecting over-rated, unaccountable executives from scrutiny of their actions until it was too late for anyone to save them from the consequences -- Andy Verity, BBC Economics correspondent and author of Rigged

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