Anders Bally co-founded Radicant in 2021 and had served as CEO ever since.

In a statement, Radicant, which is part of Swiss bank Basellandschaftliche Kantonalbank (BLKB), wrote: "Due to a different understanding of leadership and communication, he was released from his position as CEO with immediate effect."

He will be replaced by two co-CEOs in an interim basis - Rouven Leuener, chief product officer, and Roland Kläy, chief financial officer.

The move has been viewed as a surprise in the Swiss fintech and banking market. Radicant is yet to go live despite receiving its banking licence back in May. However, the launch was expected to take place some time in March.

Radicant is targetting the ESG market, describing itself as the "first digital platform for sustainable investments in Switzerland". and it has been well-backed by BLKB. 

Bally's dismissal comes shortly after a leaked email to employees was published on a Swiss blog. In the email, Bally criticised a recent report in German newspaper BZ that questioned the high investment cost of developing the Radicant business.

Bally promised a "sh*tstorm" in response to the article and also questioned the understanding of digital banking among some of the country's older politicians. 

Excerpts of the email were reported by blog Inside Paradeplatz. "Some politicians in the canton, especially older ones, have difficulty understanding the disruptive aspects of Radicant...Deep tech, mobile first banking, wealth management and other aspects of tech would be concepts that would be difficult for these politicians to assimilate," wrote Bally.

The remarks were poorly received by BLKB management with finance director Anton Lauber stating that "emails with such content are simply not tolerable". 

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