Following the public revelation of an espionage scandal that is right out of a James Bond movie, Credit Suisse's chief operating officer has reportedly resigned from the company.
A probe into the company's practices had apparently found that COO Pierre-Olivier Bouee had hired private detectives to follow and track the movements of a former company executive who had previously left to join rival bank UBS.
According to the findings of the investigation conducted by the Homburger law firm, Bouee had hired private detects to track the bank's former head of wealth management, Iqbal Khan, last month after he had left his position at the bank.
The initial findings had implicated the company's CEO Tidjane Thiam as part of the scheme. Thiam and Khan reportedly had a falling out with each other, resulting in the former's departure. Khan officially left the swiss bank in July and later joined UBS.
Khan's performance within Credit Suisse was initially praised by Thiam, resulting in his promotion. Unfortunately, a clash had apparently happened between the two top executives, resulting in personal animosity.
The details regarding the fall out are vague, but it reportedly involved a property that Khan bought and development that was located to one of the properties owned by Thiam. Media reports had stated that both executives had an argument over the development of land that went over the boundary of their properties.
However, the bank mentioned on Tuesday that it had cleared Thiam following an internal investigation into the botched surveillance attempt. The bank stated that it found no indication that Thiam was aware of Bouee's actions and that Bouee likely acted alone.
The scandal was made public last month when it was revealed that Credit Suisse had hired corporate intelligence and security firm Investigo to track down Khan's actions. The reason for the surveillance was apparently due to the bank's fears that Khan could potential poach its clients and given them to UBS. Khan reportedly noticed the men that were following him and confronted them personally, resulting in an altercation that is now under criminal investigation.
The altercation resulted in an investigation into who exactly had hired the private detectives to track Khan's movements. After it was found out that the bank was involved, Credit Suisse hired Homburger to follow the paper trail. This eventually led investigators to the company's COO.
Credit Suisse publicly condemned Bouee's actions and stated that it was "wrong and disproportionate" and that it has resulted in severe damage to its reputation.
