Credit Suisse: how a spying scandal forced a CEO’s ousting
Is there anyone at Credit Suisse who wasn’t under surveillance? Switzerland’s second largest bank has ousted its French-Ivorian CEO, Tidjane Thiam, following a “saga of corporate espionage and personal vendettas that has sent shock waves through Switzerland’s famously discreet banking community”, said The Guardian. Thiam, a former Prudential boss “widely seen as one of the finance industry’s leading lights”, resigned after losing a boardroom power struggle that erupted after the bank admitted to hiring private detectives to spy on former staff. He still claims he had “no knowledge of the observation”.
The “lurid” saga began last September when
Iqbal Khan – formerly a “star banker” in Credit Suisse’s wealthmanagement division – alleged that “up to three men hired by the bank chased him across Zurich”, said Harry Robertson in City AM. The affair took a dark turn a month later when a
“middleman” committed suicide and details of a “feud between Thiam and Khan” (who were also next-door neighbours) emerged – including reports of a toxic row at a party. It later transpired that Credit Suisse had also been spying on its former HR director.
Thiam’s departure might surprise some, said Lex in the FT. In a showdown over who should leave – the CEO or the chairman, Urs Rohner – international investors backed the “smart and charismatic” Thiam. But he had to go, said Jeremy Warner in The Sunday Telegraph: he was “damned as a knave” if he knew about the spying allegations, “and as a fool if he didn’t”. Still, don’t expect this affair to end there. In this classic tale of globalism versus localism, “the Swiss establishment has triumphed over the wishes of global investors”. It should enjoy its victory while it lasts. There’s bound to be a price paid for Zurich’s “xenophobia”.