CEO of Credit Suisse forced to resign

over spying on former employees

The Chief Executive of Credit Suisse has been forced to resign as a result of a scandal involving the Bank spying on some of its former employees.

Credit Suisse founded some 164 years ago has more than 45,000 employees and as at the end of 2018 had assets in excess of £1.07 trillion under management.

Last October the Chief Operating Officer of the Bank Pierrer-Olivier Bouee resigned when he admitted that he had arranged for Private Detectives to spy on the former Head of Wealth Management at the Bank, Iqbal Khan. Mr. Khan had left the employment of Credit Suisse and joined one of its major competitors, UBS.

As a result of this the Bank initiated an enquiry into the entire affair and discovered that a second former Senior Executive in the Bank had also been the subject of surveillance initiated by the Bank.

Tidjane Thiam, the Chief Executive of Credit Suisse had no knowledge of or involvement in the spying activities but has resigned on the basis that the scandal has tarnished the reputation of the Bank.

It appears that the surveillance which had been arranged by Mr. Bouee was initiated to see if they could gather any evidence that Mr. Khan who had departed the Bank to join UBS was endeavouring to entice any other Executives or employees of Credit Suisse to leave the Bank. It transpires that the surveillance must not have been terribly discreet as Mr. Khan realised that he was being followed and confronted the Private Detectives in the street.

Investigations confirmed that the retiring Chief Executive Tidjane Thiam had no knowledge whatsoever about the spying activities. The Board paid tribute to Mr. Thiam and for the work he had done on behalf of the Bank.

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This document is for information purposes only and does not purport to represent legal advice.  
© O’Rourke Reid 2020