UBS has reportedly hired a team of «content reviewers» in order for its Chinese research publications to be «free of any sensitivities».
UBS is hiring a team of content reviewers for its Chinese research publications, according to a «Financial Times» report citing a job ad from the bank’s wealth unit posted in July.
«You will ensure that all our Chinese language publications are [. . .] free of any sensitivities,» the ad said, underlining that the «language, tone and content» will need to be «appropriate» and adhere to regulatory and internal guidelines.
The team will sit alongside the research editing team. Thus far, one reviewer has been hired in Hong Kong and the bank is seeking to recruit more people in Singapore, according to a source in the report.
«Swinegate» in 2019
The recruitment of the team follows three years after UBS’s wealth arm suspended its global chief economist Paul Donovan over comments made in a research report about pigs during a swine fever outbreak which was perceived as distatestful and racist.
UBS would suffer blowback with Hong Kong-based Chinese brokerage Haitong International Securities cancelling all work with the bank and self-regulatory body Securities Association of China telling members not to quote Donovan’s research or invite him to events.
Donovan would eventually be reinstated four months later after issuing an apology for having «unwittingly used hugely culturally insensitive language».
