Zurich to publish review into CFO death by mid-November
Posted On: Oct. 15, 2013 12:00 AM CST
(Reuters) — Zurich Insurance will publish the findings of an internal review into the suicide of its finance chief Pierre Wauthier before the middle of next month, two sources familiar with the situation said on Tuesday.
The investigation into whether 53-year-old Mr. Wauthier, who was found dead in an apparent suicide on Aug. 26, had been placed under any undue strain at work was ongoing, one source said.
The review is expected be completed by the end of October with the aim of making the results public before Nov. 14, when Zurich presents its third-quarter results, the source said.
Zurich Insurance declined to comment.
In a typed suicide note, Mr. Wauthier blamed the insurer's then chairman Josef Ackermann for putting him under pressure, a source said in August.
The former head of Deutsche Bank resigned days after Mr. Wauthier's death and described the allegations as unfounded.
The events rattled Switzerland's largest insurer, which has celebrated a "boring" image in the years since turning around from a near-collapse in 2002, and the company has been working to reassure investors and employees.
Zurich said in August that meeting three-year performance targets, which include profitability and costs, for its general insurance and U.S. segment Farmers would be "challenging."
Messrs. Wauthier and Ackermann had differed over how to communicate the likelihood of Zurich missing the targets to shareholders in its second-quarter results.
The company is due to update investors on the targets on Dec. 5.