UBS Chairman Weber Says Bank Running Khan Due Diligence Checks

(Bloomberg) -- UBS Group AG made its public first comments about a spying scandal involving rival Credit Suisse Group AG and top banker Iqbal Khan, with chairman Axel Weber saying the bank had run due diligence checks on him as recently as today.

“We have made our due diligence, believe me, as a bank in making close contact and making sure that there will be no regret moves,” UBS Chairman Axel Weber told Bloomberg TV in an interview with Matthew Miller in Zurich on Wednesday. He added that Khan hadn’t started his new job at UBS and the matter was between him and Credit Suisse.

Credit Suisse is in the midst of an escalating scandal after it hired private detectives to shadow Khan, 43, after his resignation to join UBS. He’s set to join the bank next week. The investigation is due to be concluded this week and the findings are set to determine the fate of its Chief Executive Officer Tidjane Thiam, 57, and other senior executives.

Weber said while bankers moving jobs was a normal part of competition among banks, the process needed to be orderly. “Everything needs to be by the book. If things don’t happen by the book I’m not in favor of doing it,” he said.

--With assistance from Matthew Miller.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jan Dahinten in Zurich at jdahinten@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Dale Crofts at dcrofts@bloomberg.net, Ross Larsen

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