UBS has appointed a new treasurer, finews.com has learned. He most recently worked for Credit Suisse but has a shared past with new Group CEO Sergio Ermotti.
Mirko Bianchi becomes the new treasurer of UBS, according to an internal letter from Todd Tuckner, who was appointed chief financial officer (CFO) of the combined bank in May, succeeding Sarah Youngwood who is leaving the institution.
«Bea» is Moving Up
Bianchi takes up the post on July 1, succeeding Beatriz «Bea» Martin Jimenez, as the former UBS treasurer takes over as head of the wind-down unit, to dispose of Credit Suisse assets for which UBS no longer has any use.
Although Bianchi brings many years of high-level experience in banking finance, his appointment does come as somewhat of a surprise. He was elected to Credit Suisse's board of directors in the spring of 2022 amid a reshuffling of the board. As group treasurer, it's for him to decide on the financial lifeblood of the combined UBS. In a vast majority of cases, CEO Sergio Ermotti has entrusted UBS people with the high-profile group functions, saying now is not the time to conduct managerial experiments. He underlined the point by saying the transaction between the two banks was an acquisition and not a merger.
A «Boomerang»
Because Ermotti knows Bianchi and what makes him tick, it is likely the reason he was given the role. Before his mandate at Credit Suisse, Bianchi held various financial functions at Italy's Unicredit, including as its CFO and CEO of Private Banking. Ermotti is also a Unicredit alumnus. Bianchi worked for the Italian firm since 2009, with detours to subsidiaries. He previously worked for UBS between 2000 to 2009, so in a sense, he is coming home.
He's not the only former Credit Suisse alumnus to take on important financial roles at UBS. As reported by finews.com, Kinner Lakhani becomes CFO of the Global Wealth Management (GWM) division. Simon Grimwood becomes CFO of UBS's Credit Suisse subsidiary, succeeding the departing Dixit Joshi, and reports to Credit Suisse CEO Ulrich Koerner.
Also coming from Credit Suisse are Tony Bullman, who becomes CFO of the non-core and legacy division of UBS, and Lori Ma Willi, who becomes Tuckner's chief of staff.
Dual Functions
The new CFO is entrusting former Credit Suisse bankers with a great deal of responsibility while assigning several UBS employees new tasks. Steffen Henrich becomes the chief controller for the Group, and Dominique Crowe is the chief accounting officer, succeeding the retiring Chris Castello, who previously held both roles.
Angus Graham is the new COO of finance and head of finance integration. Ben Prata is appointed as head of financial risk and remediation, and Michael Westphalen takes over as head of financial planning and analysis.
New Reporting Lines
Jane Bailey becomes Americas CFO on July 1, replacing Marcus Komm who is relinquishing the role but remaining with the company. Various existing finance chiefs from UBS regions and divisions will report directly to Tuckner and become part of the finance leadership team. These include Reto Wangler, CFO for personal and corporate banking in Switzerland, Rachael Sledge his counterpart in the APAC region, and EMEA CFO Georgia Paphiti.
