Credit Suisse CEO Thiam Resigns Amid Spying Scandal, Gottstein To Succeed

(RTTNews) - Credit Suisse's (CS) chief executive officer Tidjane Thiam will resign in the wake of a spying scandal at the Swiss bank. He will be succeeded by Thomas Gottstein, who currently leads the bank's Swiss unit.

Tidjane Thiam, outgoing Group CEO of Credit Suisse, said, "I had no knowledge of the observation of two former colleagues. It undoubtedly disturbed Credit Suisse and caused anxiety and hurt. I regret that this happened and it should never have taken place."

Thiam will resign on February 14 after presenting full-year results 2019, the Swiss bank said in a statement.

Chairman Urs Rohner said Thiam has made an "enormous contribution" to Credit Suisse since he joined in 2015.

Thomas Gottstein, the newly appointed Group CEO, has more than 30 years of experience in the banking industry, including more than 20 years with Credit Suisse. In his role as CEO of Credit Suisse (Switzerland) Ltd. and member of the Executive Board, he has been responsible for home market since 2015.

The company said André Helfenstein will succeed Thomas Gottstein as the CEO of Credit Suisse (Switzerland) Ltd., effective February 14, 2020 and become a member of the Executive Board of Credit Suisse Group AG. André Helfenstein is currently responsible for institutional clients business in Switzerland, and is a member of the Executive Board of Credit Suisse (Switzerland) Ltd. and the Swiss Universal Bank Management Committee. Severin Schwan, lead independent director, reaffirmed board's full support for the Chairman Urs Rohner to complete his term until April 2021.

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

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.