Credit Suisse Settles With Former Executive Iqbal Khan Over Spying Scandal

(RTTNews) - Credit Suisse Group AG (CS) reached a settlement with its former wealth-management executive Iqbal Khan and private investigators over a spying scandal that rocked the Swiss bank in 2019, according to several media reports. The spying scandal ultimately led to the ouster of its chief executive officer Tidjane Thiam last year.

The settlement involves ending criminal complaints between Khan and the investigators and related legal action, the reports said.

In February 2020, Tidjane Thiam resigned as Chief Executive officer of Credit Suisse in the wake of a spying scandal at the Swiss bank.

In December 2019, Credit Suisse confirmed that a second top employee was placed under surveillance earlier 2019.

Peter Goerke, who was a member of the Executive Board at the time, was placed under observation by a third-party firm on behalf of the bank for a period of several days in February 2019.

An investigation by the bank enlisted Swiss law firm then concluded that Pierre-Olivier Bouée, a former member of the Executive Board, issued the mandate to have Peter Goerke put under observation. As was the case with former wealth management head Iqbal Khan, the observation was carried out via an intermediary. Khan had subsequently moved on to UBS.

The bank had terminated the employment agreement with Pierre-Olivier Bouée.

The Swiss law firm's investigation did not find any indication that the Group CEO Tidjane Thiam, other members of the Executive Board, or members of the Board of Directors had any knowledge of the observation of Peter Goerke until media reported on it.