Credit Suisse reportedly had its ex-top private banker Iqbal Khan tailed by a security detail. A broad-daylight skirmish underscores the heightened tensions around his defection to UBS.

The star wealth manager reportedly scrapped with three men employed as a private security detail in Zurich last week, according to several media reports including in «Bloomberg», citing sources. The skirmish between Iqbal Khan and the three-man detail broke out after the banker confronted a car he believed to be following his vehicle.

The three men were arrested by local police following the melee, according to the media reports, and face charges of coercion. Credit Suisse told prosecutors that it had ordered Khan followed, according to Swiss weekly «Sonntagszeitung,» citing sources (in German, behind paywall). A spokesman for the bank didn't comment to finews.asia.
 

Absurdly Farcical

The Swiss bank was apparently looking to ensure that Khan didn't poach clients or key staff during the three-month period between leaving Credit Suisse and joining UBS, the Swiss paper reported. The episode is absurd and farcical for genteel Zurich. It underscores what is at stake for the two, particularly in the flagship wealth arm.

Then 43-year-old's move from Credit Suisse to UBS next month is without precedent in recent history. While bankers move between the wealth giants almost daily, Khan isn't being held to his notice or a traditional cooling-off period. 

Inner-City Pursuit

Khan will take virtually the same job at UBS as he had at Credit Suisse, but add the Asian wealth arm to a remit he will share with co-head Tom Naratil. Khan is one of at two main internal candidates to succeed UBS CEO Sergio Ermotti, who soon enters his eighth year at the helm.

The skirmish last week capped an alleged pursuit of Khan which ended near Zurich's Metropol, a tony restaurant favored by bankers across the street from Switzerland's central bank. Khan's wife, who was in the car with him, witnessed the altercation, as did bystanders, according to the Swiss media reports. 

Heightened Paranoia

He isn't the first to be on the receiving end of what numerous insiders describe as a heightened sense of paranoia at Credit Suisse. Former investment banker Marco Illy was forced out of a job at UBS last year after allegedly taking a client call before he had officially moved, as finews.asia exclusively reported.

It is unclear who at Credit Suisse allegedly ordered Khan to be followed; Swiss weekly tabloid «Sonntagsblick» (in German) reported it was Credit Suisse's head of security. The bank's Paradeplatz headquarters, which has repeatedly been target by environmental activists, have enjoyed a noticeably heavier private security presence since 2015 when Tidjane Thiam took over as CEO.