The Swiss bank admitted it fell down when it had a departing top executive tailed. Credit Suisse also failed miserably in how it communicated the snafu, according to two media experts.
Credit Suisse took a first repair step with the exit of operating boss Pierre-Olivier Bouée and security chief Remo Boccali following a covert surveillance scheme on former top executive Iqbal Khan. Since a local prosecutor's investigation is poised to last for some time, the scandal is anything but buried and forgotten.
The damage to the bank is done: the stock hasn't fully recovered from a tumble after the scandal emerged, Credit Suisse CEO Tidjane Thiam has lost his closest ally, and the bank's reputation is severely dented. Could Credit Suisse have done better managing the monsoon of unfavorable headlines?
Betrayal of Trust
Yes!, according to a post-mortem of events (in German) by communications specialist Jeannette Nagy and former journalist Uwe Stolzmann of Nagy & Stolzmann. Their biggest beef? The bank's decision to have Khan tailed in the first place.
The move reveals a betrayal of Khan by Credit Suisse, which staff could conclude might apply to them too in similar circumstances. It also destroys the bank's most valuable capital: trust. «If trust begins eroding, the reputation will suffer too.»
Thrown Under Bus
Nagy and Stolzmann pinpoint Credit Suisse's outing of the surveillance firm it hired for the job (the bank didn't admit to this, but it is widely viewed as behind leaks in various media identifying the Zurich-based detective agency). The bank effectively threw a key stakeholder under the bus, the two experts write.
Four weeks ago, Credit Suisse apparently refused to engage when Swiss banking blog «Inside Paradeplatz» asked for reaction in connection to the criminal investigation following the bumbled surveillance operation. Credit Suisse flacks were more forthcoming to Swiss weekly «Sonntagszeitung» two days later, confirming the name of the spy firm.
A cardinal sin, according to the communications experts: «Playing dead is not OK. Not for a department with «communications» in their name and not for a company in crisis.» They also criticized the selective dispersion of information depending on media outlet.
Is Silence Golden?
Shortly after the spy firm's name became public, a middleman on the operation reportedly died by suicide – the bank stayed silent. One week later, on October 1, Credit Suisse apologized to Khan's family, as well as to the family of the external security consultant, who had reportedly been distraught over the public fallout from the scandal.
Bad timing, according to Nagy and Stolzmann: «Silence is golden – but how long in a scandal of this scale? One day? Two?» Apologizing for misbehavior and wrong-doing is elementary, but those involved shouldn't have to wait for a mea culpa, the duo said.
Thiam's Missive
One day after Rohner apologized for the skullduggery and the two executives were dismissed, CEO Thiam told staff that his right-hand man, Bouée, had taken full responsibility for the «regrettable» episode.
The response lacked credibility, according to the spin experts: «Who is 'fully responsible' for what happens in the leadership of companies? And how credible is a CEO who is unaware of the goings-on on the C-suite?»
