Credit Suisse Executive Steps Down Amid Spying Scandal

Source: New York Times

The chief operating officer of Credit Suisse, Pierre-Olivier Bouée, resigned on Tuesday as the company board examined his involvement in a corporate spy scandal.

In August, Mr. Bouée ordered the Swiss bank’s head of security services to start surveillance of Iqbal Khan, its head of wealth management who had been hired by UBS after a personal disagreement with Tidjane Thiam, the chief executive. Outside investigators were hired to observe whether Mr. Khan had tried to poach employees or clients in a breach of his contract. But the bank was prompted to start an investigation into the surveillance after a confrontation between Mr. Khan and an employee of the investigative agency outside a Zurich restaurant in mid-September. Mr. Khan was on leave before joining UBS this month.

Mr. Khan submitted a criminal complaint about the encounter, and Zurich’s public prosecutor opened an investigation two weeks ago. The Swiss Justice Department is also looking into the death of a security expert involved in the surveillance, the prosecutor’s office said in a statement Tuesday. The office said it wanted to clarify the circumstances of the death.

Urs Rohner, the chairman of Credit Suisse, said in a news conference Tuesday morning that the surveillance of Mr. Khan was “wrong.”“The measure that was taken was disproportionate and did not reflect the criteria and standards by which we measure our own work,” Mr. Rohner said. He added: “The observation was wrong and inappropriate, even though the instructions were subjectively provided for the protection of our firm’s interest.”

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/01/business/dealbook/credit-suisse-spy-scandal.html?smid=tw-nytimes&smtyp=cur