Thomas Schneider, former president of the bank council at Basellandschaftliche Kantonalbank (BLKB), has taken responsibility for the Radicant digital bank debacle while rejecting accusations that the bank gambled with depositors' money.
"Entrepreneurial risk is not misconduct," Schneider told the Basler Zeitung in an interview published Monday. "Anyone who wants to develop a bank must make decisions whose success is not guaranteed." He noted that Radicant's business proved more difficult than initially projected, requiring repeated adjustments to products and customer acquisition — a pattern common to start-ups, he said. "In the end, though, we simply ran out of time."
BLKB recorded write-downs of approximately 105 million Swiss francs in the summer of 2025 related to Radicant, after which Schneider and BLKB CEO John Häfelfinger both stepped down. Customer numbers had fallen short of expectations, and the failed acquisition of fintech Numarics further weakened the case. The bank's leadership decided on liquidation in late 2025.
Total costs for the Radicant venture reached 180 to 190 million francs from launch through the conclusion of liquidation, BLKB disclosed in March 2026.
Schneider pushed back sharply against the characterization that BLKB had gambled recklessly. "The term 'gambling' implies we acted carelessly or without thorough examination," he said, pointing out that audit firms had confirmed proper business conduct and that both BLKB and Radicant operated under the supervision of the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (Finma).
Finma is currently examining the circumstances surrounding Radicant's collapse. Separately, the Basel-Country cantonal parliament has established a parliamentary inquiry commission (PUK) to investigate the events around the Numarics acquisition. Schneider is scheduled to be questioned by the PUK this week.
He criticized the commission for presumed bias, arguing it was treating misconduct as a given before conducting its investigation. Schneider also complained that the PUK had denied him participation rights and access to files, accusing it of wanting to avoid scrutiny during its work. "Failure does not necessarily require a responsible party," he said.
