Spy scandal costs Swiss bank CEO his job
Tidjane Thiam has said he was unaware of the surveillance of two employees
Credit Suisse Group CEO Tidjane Thiam resigned from his post Friday after months of fallout over the surveillance of a former employee.
Thiam, who served as the bank’s CEO for four and a half years, will be replaced by Thomas Gottstein, a 30-year veteran of the industry. Gottenstein has served as head of Credit Suisse Switzerland and as a member of the executive board since 2015. He has been at the bank for more than 20 years.
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Thiam was hired by the bank in 2015, tasked with the effort of leading a restructuring that included shifting focus from investment banking to wealth management. After completing the three-year restructuring plan, the Swiss lender in 2018 posted its first annual profit since 2014. But it was the surveillance of former international wealth management head Iqbal Khan, which Thiam has said didn't know about, that ultimately led to the CEO’s departure.
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Shares of the Zurich-based lender fell on the news.
“Under Tidjane’s leadership, Credit Suisse simultaneously repurposed our strategy, restored our capital, reduced our costs, de-risked our business, promoted diversity and engendered an exceptional level of co-operation between various divisions,” Credit Suisse Chairman Urs Rohner said in a statement.
The spying scandal was uncovered in September, when Khan confronted a private investigator who was tailing him. After an investigation by an outside law firm it was determined the surveillance was ordered by Pierre-Olivier Bouee, the bank’s chief operating officer. He resigned on Oct. 1.
A second investigation into the spying probe determined former human resources head Peter Goerke was also tailed. The report found no evidence that Thiam nor any Credit Suisse board member knew about the surveillance of Goerke.
“I had no knowledge of the observation of two former colleagues,” Thiam said in a statement. “It undoubtedly disturbed Credit Suisse and caused anxiety and hurt. I regret that this happened, and it should never have taken place.”
Credit Suisse is set to report its fourth-quarter and full-year results on Feb. 13. Wall Street analysts surveyed by Refinitiv are expecting full-year profit of $1.25 a share on revenue of $22.4 billion.
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Credit Suisse shares fell 2.7 percent this year before Friday, underperforming the S&P 500’s 3.6 percent gain.