Banking giant Credit Suisse spied on Greenpeace in 2017, according to a report in a Swiss newspaper, adding pressure to a management team already rocked by a separate spying scandal.

The bank was found last year to have spied on its former wealth management head Iqbal Khan, and former human resources head Peter Goerke.

The fallout from the affair has created a rift between CEO Tidjane Thiam and chairman Urs Rohner, who is reportedly drawing up a list of possible replacements for Mr Thiam.

A major shareholder is backing Mr Thiam, however, setting up a possible showdown, and making it likely that one will be forced out in the wake of the spying saga which has already triggered a regulatory investigation.

On Sunday, SonntagsZeitung reported that Pierre-Oliver Bouee, Credit Suisse’s former chief operating officer who is at the centre of the spying furore, ordered his head of security to infiltrate Greenpeace in 2017 after the activist group protested at the bank’s annual shareholder meeting.

The bank was able to gain access to Greenpeace’s internal emails, the newspaper said.

Credit Suisse has previously been criticised by environmental groups such as Greenpeace for financing work on the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline in the US.

At Credit Suisse’s annual meeting in 2017, Greenpeace unfurled a banner protesting the pipeline behind Mr Thiam as he was talking on stage.

By infiltrating the group, Credit Suisse was able to know about demonstrations planned against it by Greenpeace ahead of time, the SonntagsZeitung article said.

A spokesman for Credit Suisse said the bank did not comment on security matters. Greenpeace said it was looking into the report, and had no comment yet.