Iqbal Khan is ensnared in a surveillance skirmish shortly before formally leaving Credit Suisse for rival UBS. What does UBS chairman Axel Weber think about the scandal?
Credit Suisse star Iqbal Khan is poised on Tuesday to take up his new job at UBS, where he will co-run the Swiss giant's wealth management activities with Tom Naratil. How does his future boss at UBS feel about Khan involvement a security contretemps last week in Zurich's main banking district?
«We’re not a party here,» Weber initially demurred in an interview with «Bloomberg» on Wednesday. «This is an issue with him and his former employer,» Weber said. Is the long-standing UBS chairman worried of a similar clash of big egos, as appears to be at the heart of the Credit Suisse-Khan dispute?
«No, I’m not. We have done our due diligence as a bank believe me and been in close contact and making sure that there will be no 'regret' moves,» he said. «We’ve done our due diligence as late as today,» Weber said (the native German speaker presumably means «as recently as today»).
Khan's new office is just 250 meters down Zurich's tony Bahnhofstrasse from his old corner office at Credit Suisse. Both headquarters are less than 500 meters from the alleged run-in involving Khan and a private security detail.
Fear of Poaching
The episode reflects badly not just on Credit Suisse, but it also undermines the image of Switzerland as a low-key place for wealthy clients searching for discretion. Weber took a sly shot at Credit Suisse for apparently having Khan tailed. The bank maintains it had reason to fear the Swiss banker was already poaching staff or clients – or both.
«If it's by the book, competition leads to people moving from one place to the other. I think that's part of the competition and its good to see,» Weber said. «If things don’t happen by the book, I’m not in favor of doing it.»
