Swiss perspectives in 10 languages

Credit Suisse results impress despite damaging spy scandal

Tidjane Thima
Thiam says the bank is well positioned to achieve future profitable growth. Keystone/ennio Leanza

Credit Suisse CEO Tidjane Thiam has reiterated that he had nothing to do with the spying scandal that recently rocked the bank. Thiam insisted that the debacle has not damaged business as the bank presented better than expected third quarter results.

The bank doubled profits for the period to CHF881 million ($886 million) compared to Q3 2018. Its International Wealth Management division, which used to be run by Iqbal Khan who was at the centre of the spygate row, saw pre-tax income rise 43% to CHF539 million.

Wealth management returns were, however, boosted by the recent CHF131 million sale of its InvestLab fund.

Thiam announced himself satisfied with the financial results that follow a highly damaging scandal involving surveillance of Khan after he acrimoniously left the bank. The spygate affair was blamed on a single executive who stepped down from the bank earlier this month.

On Wednesday, Thiam again insisted that he had known nothing of the “inappropriate and disproportionate” surveillance of Khan. Speaking to Swiss public broadcaster SRF, he said that business was normal despite the reputational fall-out.

“Our client advisors had discussions with many clients about the affair, because they had questions about it. But all our client advisors stressed that it had no negative impact on their banking business,” he said.

“The corporate culture of a bank must not be assessed on the basis of such an isolated individual case,” he added.

More


Popular Stories

Most Discussed

News

No Swiss bank in phase with environmental objectives

More

Swiss banks failing environment, says WWF

This content was published on None of the 15 major Swiss retail banks is meeting international climate and biodiversity targets, according to a ranking by WWF Switzerland.

Read more: Swiss banks failing environment, says WWF
UNRWA provides emergency assistance to just over one million Palestine refugees, or about 75 per cent of all Palestine refugees in Gaza, who lack the financial means to cover their basic food.

More

Lazzarini: no alternative to UNRWA in Gaza

This content was published on The only alternative to the UN Palestinian agency’s work in Gaza is to allow Israel to run services there, Philippe Lazzarini, UNRWA Commissioner-General, told reporters in Geneva on Monday.

Read more: Lazzarini: no alternative to UNRWA in Gaza

In compliance with the JTI standards

More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative

You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!

If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR