Credit Suisse chief Tidjane Thiam ousted after spying scandal

The Credit Suisse chief executive, Tidjane Thiam, has been ousted after losing a bitter boardroom battle that escalated after a spying scandal engulfed the Swiss bank last year.

The bank’s board announced on Friday morning that it had “unanimously accepted” the 57-year-old’s resignation and that Thomas Gottstein, the current head of Credit Suisse’s home business in Switzerland, will take over as chief executive. The board also gave its full support to the chairman, Urs Rohner, to complete his term until April 2021.

Thiam and Rohner have been in conflict since it emerged that the Zurich-based bank had hired a corporate espionage company to follow Iqbal Khan, the former head of the bank’s wealth management division, while he was on gardening leave from Credit Suisse ahead of taking a job at rival UBS. Credit Suisse insisted it was a one-off incident but then months later admitted a second executive had been tracked by private detectives.

Thiam, who has said he had no knowledge of the spying incidents, had earlier this week appeared to have the upper hand in Rohner’s bid to oust him, gaining the backing of a number of Credit Suisse’s top shareholders.

However, on Friday he said he had “agreed with the Board that I will step down from my role as chief executive. 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 step down after presenting the Zurich-based bank’s annual results next week. The news of his departure sent Credit Suisse’s share price down 4% in early trading.

“Tidjane has made an enormous contribution to Credit Suisse since he joined us in 2015,” said Rohner. “It is to his credit that Credit Suisse is standing on a very solid foundation and has returned successfully to profit. Credit Suisse is in good health and we have a deep bench of talent which can build on his achievements.”

Khan, who was seen by some as a possible heir to Thiam, uncovered the surveillance last year in an extraordinary confrontation following a car chase through the streets of Zurich.

Rohner initially supported Thiam, who had a bitter rivalry with Khan, but when it emerged that a second executive had been surveilled, relations between the two became increasingly strained.

An investigation by an external law firm cleared the chief executive and resulted in Pierre-Olivier Bouée, the bank’s chief operating officer and Thiam’s closest ally, being fired over the Khan affair. It also emerged that a private security consultant who had helped Bouée organise the spying had apparently taken his own life.