Credit Suisse operating chief resigns after botched spying investigation
A top executive at Credit Suisse has resigned today following a botched spying scandal that has rocked the world of Swiss banking.
Chief operating officer Pierre-Olivier Bouee has stepped down after an internal probe found that he alone initiated surveillance of the bank’s former head of wealth management.
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Tidjane Thiam, Credit Suisse’s chief executive, has been cleared of any role in the hiring of private directives to follow Iqbal Khan, the firm’s star banker who left in July to join arch-rival UBS.
Switzerland’s second largest bank said in a statement today: “The Board of Directors considers that the mandate for the observation of Iqbal Khan was wrong and disproportionate and has resulted in severe reputational damage to the bank.”
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“The Homburger investigation did not identify any indication that the CEO had approved the observation of Iqbal Khan nor that he was aware of it prior to September 18, 2019, after the observation had been aborted,” the bank said.
According to CNBC, two major shareholders wanted Tidjane to stay on as chief executive unless it was shown that he had broken the law.
In a spy scandal that has captivated the banking community in recent days, Credit Suisse’s reputation has come under fire following reports that Khan was tailed by a car with three men while out in Zurich’s financial district.
Khan, who then allegedly stepped out of the car to confront the men, was being followed during the three-month interim period between leaving Credit Suisse and joining rival UBS.
The investigation was carried out by law firm Homburger.