A key overseer of the Swiss bank is the British government's top candidate to run the U.K.'s national healthcare system.
The British government wants Richard Meddings as chairman of the publicly-funded NHS from next year, according to several outlets including the «Telegraph» (behind paywall). Meddings is a British investment banker who has emerged as a key figure in Credit Suisse's Greensill clean-up.
It isn't clear whether Meddings would leave the Swiss bank for the NHS job, which according to U.K. outlets is a three-day-per-week role. A spokesman for the bank didn't comment.
Credit Suisse can ill-afford to lose him: Meddings stepped in temporarily as chairman of its risk committee in April, when it became clear that the incumbent wouldn't win reelection. He has been hands-on in the wake of the Greensill as well as Archegos disasters.
Digital Vs Paperwork
He now chairs Credit Suisse's audit committee and sits on three others (risk, sustainability advisory, governance and nominations, conduct and financial crime control). Chairman António Horta-Osório, who brought in reinforcement in October, wants to whittle the board to at most 12, from 14 currently.
The British government wants a private sector heavyweight with experience in digital and data, the U.K. outlet reported. This is because a roughly 20 percent of British hospitals still rely on paperwork as opposed to technology for records, it said.
U.K. Establishment Links
His profile fits the NHS bill: Meddings chaired TSB, a British retail bank owned by Banca Sabadell, for three years. Impeccably connected in British finance, he also sits on the board of HM Treasury in the U.K. and chairs its audit committee.
Meddings, who joined Credit Suisse's board just last year, wouldn't be the first Credit Suisse banker to hold a top role at the NHS: a former technologist for the Swiss bank, Sarah Wilkinson, was CEO of NHS Digital until mid-year.
