From Breakingviews: Credit Suisse’s dumb decision to ask second-rate detectives to trail former wealth boss Iqbal Khan, who defected to rival UBS, is a national embarrassment, rob1cox writes:
ZURICH - Two custom-tailored wealthy men arguing at a champagne reception does not a Jason Bourne thriller make. Unless the combatants happen to be two of the most senior bankers in Zurich. This city’s professionals are normally known for being discreet and predictable - even boring, in the best sense of the word. In recent years they have also tried to burnish their ethical credentials.
There’s no place quite like Zurich. This town of just 402,000, on a lake so clean alpha types swim across it before heading to work just a few meters away, is home to two of the world’s most important financial institutions. The headquarters of Credit Suisse and UBS are literally separated by a few watch shops. No other financial centre has just two large institutions fighting for the same clients, in nearly identical business lines, by equally extracting virtue from their shared Swiss heritage.
The headlines from Zurich over the past week hardly project an image of stability. A confrontation between private investigators hired by Credit Suisse, the bank run by Tidjane Thiam, to tail Iqbal Khan, a former underling with whom he had a falling out, has brought unwelcome attention to the Swiss banking complex.
It’s also ethically questionable. Credit Suisse agreed to let Khan go with relatively few strings attached. He was only restricted from popping over to a competitor for three months. Given how nearly every rival in town jockeyed to snag his services – Goldman Sachs, Lombard Odier and Julius Baer also courted him – this seems a miscalculation.
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Breakingviews - China turns 70, to forced applause(Reuters Breakingviews) - The People's Republic of China turns 70 on Tuesda...
Read more »
“Budgets On U.S. Independent Movies Can Still Come Down”: Zurich SummitProduction budgets on U.S. independent movies are regularly too high to make them viable in the international sales marketplace, but it’s no easy task for producers to cut them, said speakers at th…
Read more »
Netflix & China Boosting Foreign-Language Film & TV, Agree Int’l Sales Vets: Zurich SummitTheatrical play for foreign-language movies is increasingly hard to come by in markets such as the U.S. and UK, despite the best efforts of a handful of dedicated distributors. There are bright spo…
Read more »
Friday’s Google Doodle Celebrates Google, But What Does That Mean?Google is old enough to drink, but what is a “google”, anyway?
Read more »