Dear colleagues,
By now you will have read the announcement
contained in the attached press release, which states that the
Board of Directors has accepted the resignation of Oswald J. Grübel
and has appointed Sergio P. Ermotti as Group CEO on an interim
basis.
Go deeper with GlobalData
The Board and GEB deeply regret his decision,
but Oswald Grübel felt a personal duty in the best interests of the
firm to assume responsibility for the recent unauthorized trading
incident.
During Oswald Grübel’s tenure as CEO, he
achieved an impressive turnaround and strengthened the firm
fundamentally, making UBS one of the world’s best capitalized
banks. We have the highest respect for all Oswald Grübel has done
for UBS.
His dedication to the success of the firm and
his relentless commitment to clients, shareholders and employees
have always been exemplary.
There will be enormous challenges in the
coming weeks and months and we are confident that we can realign
UBS to deal with the new market environment facing the financial
services industry.
How well do you really know your competitors?
Access the most comprehensive Company Profiles on the market, powered by GlobalData. Save hours of research. Gain competitive edge.
Thank you!
Your download email will arrive shortly
Not ready to buy yet? Download a free sample
We are confident about the unique quality of our Company Profiles. However, we want you to make the most beneficial decision for your business, so we offer a free sample that you can download by submitting the below form
By GlobalDataThe first priority of the GEB will be to
finalize the business plans essential to implementing the
realignment strategy as discussed in today’s announcement.
The strength of our bank lies in our ability
to offer demanding private, corporate and institutional clients a
broad range of services and products in all the major markets of
the world from a single source. We will focus even more on this
capability in the future.
Another of our priorities will be to fully
support the independent enquiry into the unauthorized trading
incident. As soon as the results of it are available, we will take
the necessary steps to prevent another incident with such
far-reaching consequences to occur in our bank again.
We understand how great your personal
frustration must be about this incident, especially in light of the
reputational damage borne by UBS at a time when we were making such
good progress. In spite of the incident, however, UBS’s financial
standing today is rock solid.
Speculation regarding what occurred is likely
to continue for some time yet. Our clients, colleagues and friends
will ask legitimate questions to which we won’t always have answers
at the time.
Please do not allow yourselves to get involved
in speculation. We will ensure that you receive material to support
you in such conversations.
At the moment it is more important than ever
for us to keep focused on our daily business. Precisely at
challenging times like this we have to be there for our clients.
What has happened is serious, but there is no reason why it should
affect our core business.
Under Oswald Grübel’s leadership during the
last two-and-a-half years, you all achieved a tremendous amount.
Now we have to continue down the path we have chosen.
Let’s all get on with our job. If we pull
together we can make sure that we handle this latest phase in our
150-year history professionally.
Thank you for your support.
Kaspar
Villiger,
Sergio P. Ermotti,
on behalf of the Board of
Directors
on behalf of the Group Executive Board
