Credit Suisse CEO Thomas Gottstein said the "loss in our Prime Services business relating to the failure of a US-based hedge fund is unacceptable".
Credit Suisse CEO Thomas Gottstein said the "loss in our Prime Services business relating to the failure of a US-based hedge fund is unacceptable". AFP / Fabrice COFFRINI

Multinational bank Credit Suisse announced Sunday that it reached a settlement with a former banker over spying allegations. The allegations had prompted the bank's CEO to resign in February 2020.

Financial terms about the settlement were not released and a spokesperson for the banker said they have no comment. The settlement requires banker Iqbal Khan to drop lawsuits against Credit Suisse and the private detectives.

"Everybody involved has agreed to settle and this matter is now closed," Swiss journalist Simone Meier confirmed in newspaper NZZ am Sonntag.

In 2019, former chief operating officer Pierre-Olivier Bouee was implicated in two separate spying operations, with one that involved Khan, a top banker who left Credit Suisse to work for UBS. Bouee allegedly had Khan tracked by a private investigator out of worries Khan would poach Credit Suisse clients and top staff.

Khan caught on to the spying after realizing a private investigator was following him and his wife.

The scandal rocked the small nation of Switzerland. Many other instances of surveillance were later revealed and the private investigator committed suicide after the case became public.

The spying scandal prompted Credit Suisse CEO Tidjane Thiam to step down on Feb. 14, 2020. He was replaced by Thomas Gottstein.

An investigation found "zero evidence" that Thiam was aware of the surveillance.