Credit Suisse Confirms Again Spying Of Executive

(RTTNews) - Credit Suisse (CS) confirmed that a second top employee was placed under surveillance earlier this year. The bank said that employees had lied about surveillance during an earlier investigation into the spying of a former executive.

An investigation by the Swiss investment bank confirmed that 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.

The investigation 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, this observation was carried out via an intermediary.

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

The new investigation by the bank enlisted Swiss law firm 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.

A Swiss newspaper reported that Goerke had been placed under observation, citing documents and photos.

The bank had already apologized for spying on former wealth management head Iqbal Khan, who has subsequently moved on to UBS.

Urs Rohner, chairman of Credit Suisse said, "The observation of Peter Goerke, which has now been confirmed, is inexcusable. It is of grave concern that the responsible individuals failed to answer truthfully about this observation during the external investigation in September 2019.

"We are aware that the observations of Iqbal Khan and Peter Goerke have damaged the reputation of our bank. With the measures that we have put in place, we are sending a clear message that the Board of Directors firmly rejects a culture of observation," Rohner noted

Credit Suisse said it will continue to cooperate closely with the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority.