Credit Suisse CEO Tidjane Thiam
FAFabrice Coffrini | AFP | Getty Images
Tidjane Thiam is stepping down as Credit Suisse CEO and will be replaced by Thomas Gottstein, who currently heads the bank’s Swiss unit.
In a statement Friday morning, the board of directors said it had unanimously accepted Thiam’s resignation, following the presentation of the Swiss lender’s fourth-quarter and full-year results. Chairman Urs Rohner said Thiam has made an “enormous contribution” to the bank since he joined in 2015. He will step down on Feb. 14.
“Under Tidjane’s leadership, Credit Suisse simultaneously repurposed our strategy, restored our capital, reduced our costs, de-risked our business, promoted diversity and engendered an exceptional level of co-operation between various divisions,” he said.
“It is to his credit that Credit Suisse is standing on a very solid foundation and has returned successfully to profit.”
Thiam said he was proud of what his team had accomplished during his tenure, adding in a statement that they had “turned Credit Suisse around” and that he would be an “enthusiastic supporter” of his colleagues’ endeavors.
Spying scandal
The news follows a long drawn-out spying scandal at the bank, after former wealth management boss Iqbal Khan, who was heading to rival UBS, was followed by private contractors in a bid to establish whether he was poaching colleagues and clients.
An internal investigation by law firm Homburger into the spying scandal which rocked the bank in 2019 was said to have found “zero evidence” that Thiam was aware of the surveillance.
“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 reiterated on Friday morning.
However, the investigation directly resulted in the exit of COO Pierre-Olivier Bouee, claiming that he acted alone in directing the spying, and raising questions how Thiam was kept out of the loop in an espionage plot devised and executed by one of his top executives.
The scandal also resulted in the suicide of the private investigator who worked as a middleman between Switzerland’s second-largest bank and the private security firm.
Thiam told CNBC in October that this event was what led to the resignation of individuals.
Khan filed a complaint with police in September after reportedly spotting an investigator following him and his wife in Zurich, though conflicting accounts of the incident have emerged. He left Credit Suisse in July following a deterioration of his relationship with Thiam.
