NEW YORK/ZURICH - UBS AG , Switzerland's largest bank, in a surprise move on Thursday replaced Chief Executive Peter Wuffli with his deputy, Marcel Rohner, and said Wuffli would leave the company.
The sudden change, effective immediately, followed growing calls from UBS critics to bolster results, and perhaps break up the company by getting out of investment banking and focusing entirely on wealth and investment management.
Wuffli, 49, had become president of UBS's group executive board in 2001, and took over as CEO in 2003. Rohner, 42, joined the board in 2002, and became Wuffli's deputy in January 2006. Both are Swiss citizens.
UBS also said Marcel Ospel, 57, would be nominated for a new three-year term as chairman. In a statement announcing the changes, UBS said it rejected Ospel's proposal that Wuffli succeed him as chairman, saying it did not view as "automatic" the promotion of the chief executive to the chairman's role.
"(The board and) Wuffli therefore decided to institute generational change only in UBS's operational management," UBS said.
Wuffli's shock departure may fuel speculation that UBS is preparing to alter course strategically after several mishaps, including the surprise closure of a star hedge fund Dillon Reed Capital Management.
UBS, however, downplayed any possible change.
"There was no disagreement over strategy," said UBS group spokesman Cristoph Meier. Meier said UBS remained committed to a one-bank strategy, combining investment banking with wealth and asset management in a single, seamless organization.
Speculation has increased in recent months that UBS may seek to split into its two main divisions, investment banking and wealth management, after the group posted two consecutive quarters of disappointing results.
Smaller rival Credit Suisse Group Inc. has, meanwhile, revived its fortunes after years of restructuring.
In May, UBS surprised investors by announcing plans to shut Dillon Reed, which suffered a first-quarter loss of 150 million Swiss francs amid losses related to U.S. subprime mortgages.
UBS has also recently lost some senior investment bankers, including investment banking president and merger specialist Ken Moelis in March.
Wuffli had led the bank on a steep growth path, using its global reach and sophistication to attract investments from the world's rich while executing a string of acquisitions that lifted UBS to the rank of No. 5 worldwide in terms of market value.
Rohner has been in charge of UBS's crown jewel, the private banking unit that caters to the wealthy. He helped expand the unit into countries such as Germany, Britain, France, Italy and Spain.
UBS, created in 1998 from the merger of Union Bank of Switzerland and Swiss Bank Corp., oversees more than 3.1 trillion Swiss francs ($2.55 trillion) in its asset and wealth management arms, making it the world's largest keeper of rich peoples' fortunes.
Private banking accounts for more than 40 percent of revenue. The company's businesses include the former PaineWebber brokerage.
Wuffli became president after the ouster of Luqman Arnold, who had disagreed with Ospel over strategy.
Wuffli oversaw a resurgence at UBS at the same time that Credit Suisse was posting record losses following its acquisition of investment bank Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette Inc., and amid write-downs at its Winterthur insurance unit.
UBS said Raoul Weil, who has led its international wealth management operations, would succeed Rohner as chairman and chief executive of global wealth management and business banking.
Prior to the news, UBS American depositary shares had closed 38 cents down at $60.58 on the New York Stock Exchange.
|
|
