Credit Suisse Spying Cases Multiply After Khan Scandal

(Bloomberg) -- Credit Suisse Group AG’s spying incident involving the departure of former wealth-management head Iqbal Khan might not be an isolated case.

The bank may have spied on former Chief Human Resources Officer Peter Goerke, the Swiss newspaper NZZ reported late Monday, citing documents it obtained as part of an investigation. A former Credit Suisse employee in the U.S. also recently alleged that the Swiss bank had her followed after she was involved in an accounting dispute.

The latest revelations follow one of the most difficult periods in the bank’s recent history after the lender ordered the surveillance of Khan following his departure to rival UBS Group AG. Chairman Urs Rohner said that staff surveillance was not “part of our toolbox,” and a report into the scandal found that Chief Operating Officer Pierre-Olivier Bouee had acted alone in ordering the surveillance.

“Credit Suisse is examining the new information as revealed by the media in internal and external reviews,” the bank said.

While the incident gripped Zurich financial circles, the bank’s internal investigation in October concluded that other senior managers had no knowledge of the spying. A top law firm, Homburger, was commissioned by Credit Suisse to undertake an investigation and found no evidence that the lender had ordered observations of other employees.

Chief Executive Officer Tidjane Thiam said in a memo to employees at the time that the surveillance “was strictly an isolated event and full accountability has been taken by the individuals concerned.”

Executives Observed

Goerke was spied upon from Feb. 20 to Feb. 22, NZZ reported, saying the reason for the alleged operation was unclear. Credit Suisse probably ordered the observation via a middleman, the newspaper said. Goerke left the bank’s executive committee in late February.

Separately, Colleen Graham alleged in a U.S. Department of Labor court filing that Credit Suisse retaliated after she refused to sign off on how revenue from its Signac joint venture would be booked. The case, which was reported earlier this month, dates back to 2017.

“I imagine that ‘spying’ is used by most large companies globally and as long as done legally isn’t such a big deal,” David Herro, deputy chairman of the bank’s largest shareholder, Harris Associates, said in an email. “I don’t have an issue with this as long as the reasoning is sound for using these tools, as was certainly the case in the Khan episode given his position.”

Khan’s case put his relationship with Thiam in the spotlight. The two men are neighbors in the upscale community of Herrliberg outside Zurich, and Khan had enjoyed a rapid rise through the ranks of Credit Suisse, promoted by Thiam to lead a key unit. But their relationship soured after an argument at a house party in early 2019, and following several months of tension Khan left the bank.

To contact the reporters on this story: Patrick Winters in Zurich at pwinters3@bloomberg.net;Marion Halftermeyer in Zurich at mhalftermeye@bloomberg.net;Leonard Kehnscherper in Zurich at lkehnscherpe@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Dale Crofts at dcrofts@bloomberg.net, Marion Dakers, Keith Campbell

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