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Deals & People September 26, 2011
UBS CEO Resigns in Trading Fallout
The UBS Board of Directors has accepted the resignation of CEO Oswald J. Grübel, as the bank tries to recover from its recent trading scandal.
Reported by Nicole Bliman
The Board of Directors asked Sergio P. Ermotti, the CEO for UBS Europe, to take up the position of Group CEO on an interim basis. The appointment will take effect immediately.
“The Board regrets Oswald Grübel’s decision. Oswald Grübel feels that it is his duty to assume responsibility for the recent unauthorized trading incident. It is testimony to his uncompromising principles and integrity. During his tenure, he achieved an impressive turnaround and strengthened UBS fundamentally. He steps down having helped make UBS one of the world’s best capitalized banks. On behalf of the Board of Directors, I extend my heartfelt gratitude to him for everything he has done for UBS,” said UBS’s Chairman, Kaspar Villiger.
The Board of Directors will continue an ongoing internal and external evaluation process to find a permanent successor as Group CEO.
The “unauthorized trading incident” involved a London-based trader, Kweku Adoboli, who allegedly lost $2.3 billion in fraudulent trades (see “UBS Trader Arrested in London, Worked with ETFs”).