By Neil MacLucas
ZURICH--Zurich Insurance Group AG (ZURN.VX) said Monday that
probes under the direction of Swiss regulators into the suicide in
August of its chief financial officer found no evidence the
executive was placed under any "undue or inappropriate
pressure."
Zurich Insurance said the probes ordered by the Swiss Financial
Market Supervisory Authority, known as Finma, found Pierre Wauthier
hadn't been subjected to inappropriate conduct by the insurer's
management. They also found no problems with financial figures Mr.
Wauthier prepared, the company said.
The death of Mr. Wauthier, who committed suicide at his home in
Walchwil, a lakefront community south of Zurich, led days later to
the resignation of Josef Ackermann, who was then Zurich Insurance's
chairman. Mr. Ackermann was named in a typed note left by Mr.
Wauthier.
"The Finma-directed investigation found no indication of any
such pressure or other inappropriate conduct, nor of any improper
management of Zurich," the insurer said in a statement.
Finma didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
Write to Neil MacLucas at neil.maclucas@wsj.com
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