Nicole Brändle’s resignation from Hotelleriesuisse

He has been President of the Swiss National Bank since October 1st, and she is – still – Director of the Hotelleriesuisse Association. Both bear great responsibility. Both are successful. Both are among the best in their field. And: you are married. Martin Schlegel and Nicole Brändle are what is called a “power couple”.

But Nicole Brändle recently announced her resignation. She will step down in June 2025. And that mainly has to do with her husband.

The reason for the resignation is speculation. About how the relationship could cloud the impartiality of the Hotelleriesuisse director and the new SNB president.

As head of the central bank, Martin Schlegel helps control the exchange rate of the Swiss franc. Nicole Brändle is the director of an industry association whose members make a living from tourism. Hotels, inns and other accommodation providers are dependent on the exchange rate and are therefore affected by the SNB’s monetary policy decisions.

“It was difficult for me”

Nicole Brändle’s resignation triggered something. He stands for all those people who have resigned in favor of their partner’s career. Or will do so.

Suspected conflicts of interest due to couple relationships are becoming more common at a time when both partners have ambitions. In extreme cases, a conflict of interest means that one of the two people has to quit their job so that the other can pursue their career.

But what is it like for the person who leaves?

It takes courage. And it’s usually difficult. That’s what Nicole Brändle says. «I didn’t think I would resign so quickly. It’s been a long process. In the end it was a sensible decision.” But not an easy one.

The association was her second home

Nicole Brändle became director of Hotelleriesuisse in April. Before that, she had already worked for the association for five years, most recently as a member of the management team. Working for the association means a lot to her. “I knew the entire network, the environment and the partner associations well.” Hotelleriesuisse also writes that she played a crucial role in the association’s crisis management during the pandemic. “I really enjoyed working for this industry,” says Brändle. The position is a matter of the heart, the association is like a home.

But then, after only five months in office: resignation.

It was a preemptive decision. «There was no specific event. It was just a feeling that the pressure and the perception that was being created wasn’t going to go away anytime soon.”

For this reason, she and her husband went to compliance experts, says Brändle. They were familiar with the legal finesse of such constellations. They were told that there was only a “conflict of interest” in their case.

So there is some overlap in the business topics, but no obvious influence. No direct conflict.

The marriage between Nicole Brändle and Martin Schlegel was therefore legally not a problem for their professional functions. But the public and the media perceived it differently, says Nicole Brändle. «We thought about what future scenarios could be. And I came to the conclusion: A self-determined decision is better than being forced to act under pressure.”

Risk to reputation and integrity

The public is sensitive to conflicts of interest. Especially when it comes to couple relationships. The media has been following the issue more closely recently, says compliance expert and former law professor and judge Monika Roth.

Monika Roth says of the Brändle/Schlegel case: “When she announced her resignation, I thought: That was smart.”

Nicole Brändle and Martin Schlegel realized that their constellation would cast a shadow – a reputational risk. Something that he, the new SNB president, can be accused of again and again.

But what does it feel like for Nicole Brändle to make such a decision and give up her position as director?

“Many of my colleagues are very affected and think it’s a shame.” Most people could have understood it, says Brändle. But some would have found it far-fetched to foresee a possible conflict of interest here. “They had trouble understanding it.”

Conflicts of interest are opaque

“A conflict of interest describes the situation of being a ‘servant of two masters’,” explains lawyer and private lecturer Damian Fischer. In other words, a situation in which a person has the task of protecting someone else’s interests. And in doing so, they have to make decisions that may put the person in conflict – with their own interests or those that have been transferred to them by third parties.

The problem: Conflicts of interest are often difficult to recognize.

In labor law you only read general clauses about this: the employing parties should “protect interests” and “carry out their work carefully”. The general rule is: The employee has a duty of loyalty to the employer.

Compliance expert Monika Roth says: “Every conflict of interest is a breach of fiduciary duty.” However, only a few people could imagine when such a break would begin in individual cases.

Decency alone is no longer enough

In addition to increasing pressure from the public, there is increasing legalization of conflicts of interest. Companies have been setting up more and more regulations since the 2000s, says Monika Roth. She sees transparency as necessary. “Protection of privacy with all due respect – but if my boss is a good friend of mine, I have to disclose that.”

“In the past, dealing with conflicts of interest at work was primarily a question of morality,” says Damian Fischer. A question of decency. In recent decades, however, the issue has shifted from a moral to a legal level.

In addition, for a long time the question of who would step down in the event of a conflict did not arise. It was customary for the woman to stay at home and take care of the home and children so that the man could pursue a career and bring home the money. These traditional role distributions should be long outdated today.

Nicole Brändle and Martin Schlegel met years ago; they both once worked at the SNB – he in the research unit immediately after his studies, she from 2005 to 2008 as an economist for financial market analysis. Eight years later they traveled to Singapore for an extended period of time. Martin Schlegel headed the SNB branch there, and she completed an Executive MBA at a business university. They already had two children at that time. Their third was born in Singapore.

Abstain or resign

The compatibility of family life and careers will always have been an issue for Brändle and Schlegel. However, a situation like the current one has never existed before. Suddenly there was a suspected conflict of interest. And anyone who suspects this must take action.

There is a three-stage approach to dealing with conflicts of interest, says lawyer Damian Fischer. The first stage: disclose. The conflict of interest should be identified and communicated to the responsible committee or management. The second: avoid. One option is to go on strike.

So not taking part in certain decisions, abstaining from voting. Another option: quit your job, resign from office. Like Nicole Brändle did preventatively.

If the second level of avoidance does not work, conflicts of interest can be managed at a third level with “appropriate precautions,” says Fischer. For example, you can obtain approval from a subordinate or higher-level body.

When political journalists fall in love with politicians

The journalist Joël Widmer also found a way to deal with the problem of conflict of interest. Widmer worked as head of politics at “Blick” for a long time. His wife at the time, Aline Trede, was a National Councilor for the Greens. Widmer says: “We solved it in such a way that I stayed out of all the issues that affected my then wife or her party.”

As a political journalist, he wrote neither about the Green Party nor about his wife’s parliamentary commissions. “That was a restriction.” But you can sort it out by communicating the problem offensively and transparently within the team.

There are more and more examples like Joël Widmer and Aline Trede. That’s why couple relationships have long been an issue in the application process. This is what a recruiting expert who places managers says. He takes a close look at what the partner does for a living. The scope of these reviews has increased in recent years.

Women walk more often than men

Nicole Brändle was often asked about one thing. On the “women’s issue” – that people said: “Now it’s another woman who is resigning.”

And this question actually quickly arises. When there is a conflict of interest, are women more likely to leave?

The experts say that the trend is yes. At least in Switzerland.

There are various reasons for this, says Julia Nentwich. She is an adjunct professor of organizational psychology at the University of St. Gallen and researches equal opportunities. One direct reason is that women tend to work more part-time than men and most top positions in Switzerland currently still require full-time work. It is therefore more likely that the woman who previously worked part-time will reduce. Or leave.

Because the man earns more. Because he has a better job because he can work full time.

Nentwich says: “A woman who works is often asked: How can you leave the children alone? While a man who stays at home hears more often: Why don’t you go to work?”

If you look at Switzerland in an international comparison, you can see that when it comes to part-time work, parental leave or equal pay, there is still a comparatively high level of inequality between the genders in Switzerland. This is shown by data from the OECD and the Federal Statistical Office.

Nicole Brändle wants to continue

With Nicole Brändle and Martin Schlegel it was not a gender-specific question. “It was a decision based on our business positions,” she says. Her husband supported her in all her projects and in her career. In the end, she was the person who made and communicated the decision.

Nicole Brändle says: “The whole thing requires a couple to be able to communicate well with each other.” That a discussion could take place about how best to coordinate the two careers. She will reorient herself. Her professional life was never linear. And she is open to everything that comes now.

When asked whether she would continue to pursue a career, Brändle quickly said: “Yes, of course.”