UBS is appointing a new head of diversity as Carolanne Minashi leaves, finews.com has learned. The Swiss bank is taking the opportunity to lend more weight to the role.
Zurich-based UBS is naming Cicilia Wan its global head for diversity, equity, and inclusion, effective March 1, according to a memo excerpt seen by finews.com. Wan, who UBS poached two years ago, will add the job to her current role as head of employee relations.
She replaces Carolanne Minashi, who leaves at the end of March to pursue other opportunities, UBS' human resources boss Stefan Seiler wrote in the memo. She is taking a similar role at HSBC, two sources familiar with the matter told finews.com. Minashi didn't respond to a request for comment.
Straighter Line
Wan's role represents a beefed-up version to that of Minashi, who held the job for five years. For one, Wan is adding the word «equity» to Minashi's title. She will report directly to Seiler, who now reports directly to CEO Ralph Hamers following the elevation of operating chief Sabine Keller-Busse.
Wan, who was brought in as reinforcment following a rape case, will continue to be based in London. Besides the rape case, settled seven months ago, UBS also saw a fissure with many of its working mothers blow open during Minashi's tenure.
J.P. Morgan Veteran
Wan, who is a lawyer, was a veteran of J.P. Morgan before joining the Swiss bank: she has worked in London, New York, and Hong Kong, including as the U.S. bank's head of employee relations after holding the same role in the Asia-Pacific region.
«Together with Cicilia Wan’s expertise and experience in international leadership roles across the financial service industry, I’m convinced that she’s very well positioned to take our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion strategy forward, in close alignment with UBS’s business strategy,» Seiler wrote.
