Credit Suisse CEO Tidjane Thiam is set to resign after getting called out for a spying scandal at the bank. He will be replaced by Thomas Gottstein.
Gottstein currently serves as the CEO of Credit Suisse (Switzerland), a role he has held since 2016. He will be replaced in this role by André Helfenstein.
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Helfenstein, who currently heads the Swiss institutional clients business at Credit Suisse, will also gain a seat on the executive board of Credit Suisse Group.
The changes will be effective from the 14th of this month.
The leadership change has been triggered by a scandal, which involved a spying operation carried out on the bank’s former top executive Iqbal Khan who joined UBS last year.
However, an internal probe cleared Thiam in the matter.
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By GlobalData“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 noted.
The probe found that the spying was ordered by Pierre-Olivier Bouée, who formerly served as the COO at Credit Suisse.
At that time, the bank gave a statement saying that Bouée made the decision alone without seeking approval from Thiam or other board members.
Bouée resigned immediately after the revelation and was replaced by James Walker.
Gottstein held various roles at Credit Suisse since joining the firm in 1999, such as the head of Premium Clients Switzerland & Global External Asset Managers and co-head of Equity Capital Markets EMEA.
Helfenstein has been working at Credit Suisse since 2007. He held various senior positions at the firm including head of Corporate & Institutional Clients for Switzerland and region head of Zurich Private Clients.
Credit Suisse chairman of the board of directors Urs Rohner said: “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.
“Credit Suisse is in good health and we have a deep bench of talent which can build on his achievements.”
