UBS Chairman Axel Weber and CEO Sergio Ermotti are showing a united front at the Swiss bank's shareholder meeting. The two bankers talked succession, the French criminal trial, and their own paydays.
Early this year, Axel Weber addressed succession planning for CEO Sergio Ermotti – and managed to whip up more speculation in the ham-fisted process, as finews.com reported in February. Three months later, the two sought to smooth ruffled feathers with a joint interview in Swiss tabloid «Blick» (in German) to coincide with UBS' shareholder meeting on Thursday.
«Many things were overinterpreted» at the time, Weber said in a dig at media. «We're under no pressure on succession. We can take the necessary time in order to hand over the bank to our successors in a staggered manner.» UBS had talked with Christian Meissner, the Austrian former head of Bank of America's investment bank, over «a possible use with us» he said. Albeit not as CEO, but at a lower rank.
French Deal Impossible
For his part, CEO Ermotti doesn't seem to be going anywhere anytime soon. «I'm not thinking for a second about what comes next. There's not time for that. Whoever in my position does that should immediately step down», the Ticino native said.
The two also ran damage control on UBS' biggest mess at the moment: a $5 billion fine in a French criminal trial, which has raised questions over management's handling of the investigation. A sensible agreement was never possible with French authorities, the two bankers said, even if at times the two sides have discussed a fine of between 40 million and 100 million euros ($45 million to $114 million).
Investors to Deny Backing?
French investigators had abandoned talks at the time – and why should UBS plead guilty and pay several billion when the Swiss bank believes it didn't violate laws? «This isn't about courage, but about the responsibility we have towards our shareholders», Ermotti said.
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