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UBS confirms execs in move to calm investors
Source: Agencies |
November 16, 2011, Wednesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
UBS AG made stand-in Sergio Ermotti permanent chief executive yesterday and brought forward the start date of chairman designate Axel Weber, in a move to reassure investors following the Swiss bank's US$2 billion trading scandal.
Ermotti, a 51-year-old from Switzerland's Italian-speaking Ticino region, was appointed interim CEO in September after Oswald Gruebel quit the bank over the trading losses.
The board, which had appointed headhunters to find a replacement, said it had decided to make the appointment permanent "after it completed a comprehensive evaluation process."
Former Bundesbank president Weber, who has pushed to join the bank as quickly as possible since the scandal, will be proposed as chairman at the annual general meeting in May, a year earlier than planned.
UBS said its current board backed the bank's strategy to scale back its investment bank and focus on its core wealth management business, which will be detailed tomorrow at an annual investor event in New York.
"This strategy will be centered on our leading wealth management businesses and our position as the strongest universal bank in Switzerland," Ermotti said in a statement.
"A focused, less complex and less capital-intensive investment bank and our asset management business are also key elements for growing our wealth management franchise."
Weber, who sources said had seen Ermotti as a fallback option and explored other candidates, welcomed the announcement, saying in a statement he would be in Switzerland in February to exchange ideas with his new colleagues and meet clients.
"I know Sergio Ermotti personally. I had previously met him during my time at the Bundesbank. I have also spoken to him often in the last few weeks. I welcome his appointment as UBS's Group CEO and look forward to working together with him," he said.
Vontobel analyst Teresa Nielsen said that the announcement "is positive as it provides UBS with more certainty about its leadership and hence brings in stability."
Ermotti's first major task will be to present UBS's new strategy to investors tomorrow.
Ermotti, a 51-year-old from Switzerland's Italian-speaking Ticino region, was appointed interim CEO in September after Oswald Gruebel quit the bank over the trading losses.
The board, which had appointed headhunters to find a replacement, said it had decided to make the appointment permanent "after it completed a comprehensive evaluation process."
Former Bundesbank president Weber, who has pushed to join the bank as quickly as possible since the scandal, will be proposed as chairman at the annual general meeting in May, a year earlier than planned.
UBS said its current board backed the bank's strategy to scale back its investment bank and focus on its core wealth management business, which will be detailed tomorrow at an annual investor event in New York.
"This strategy will be centered on our leading wealth management businesses and our position as the strongest universal bank in Switzerland," Ermotti said in a statement.
"A focused, less complex and less capital-intensive investment bank and our asset management business are also key elements for growing our wealth management franchise."
Weber, who sources said had seen Ermotti as a fallback option and explored other candidates, welcomed the announcement, saying in a statement he would be in Switzerland in February to exchange ideas with his new colleagues and meet clients.
"I know Sergio Ermotti personally. I had previously met him during my time at the Bundesbank. I have also spoken to him often in the last few weeks. I welcome his appointment as UBS's Group CEO and look forward to working together with him," he said.
Vontobel analyst Teresa Nielsen said that the announcement "is positive as it provides UBS with more certainty about its leadership and hence brings in stability."
Ermotti's first major task will be to present UBS's new strategy to investors tomorrow.
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