Credit Suisse: FINMA appoints independent investigator

The logo of FINMA, the Swiss financial watchdog © Keystone / Gaetan Bally

The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority FINMA says it will have an independent auditor investigate Swiss bank Credit Suisse “in the context of observation activities”.

“The observation activities carried out by Credit Suisse raise various compliance issues,” FINMA said in a statement on Friday eveningExternal link.

“FINMA’s ongoing investigations of this matter will now be stepped up with the help of an independent auditor. This investigator will clarify the relevant corporate governance questions, particularly in relation to the observation activities, the handling of information in this context and the use of electronic communications.”

FINMA said that it would provide further information once its investigation had been concluded and that the probe could take several months.

Credit Suisse was rocked by a highly damaging spygate case earlier this year involving the surveillance of former wealth management boss Iqbal Khan. Earlier this week the NZZ newspaper pointed to a further surveillance claim, which CS said it would investigate both internally and independently.

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