Swiss perspectives in 10 languages

UBS head rejects resignation calls

The chief executive of Switzerland's UBS bank says he won't resign over the $2 billion (SFr1.75 billion) loss incurred by a rogue trader revealed on Thursday.

Oswald Gruebel told the Swiss German-language newspaper Sonntag that calls for his resignation were “purely political”.

“If you ask me whether I feel guilty, the answer is  ‘no’,” he told the Sunday paper, while saying that he was responsible for everything that happens in the bank.

“When someone decides to act with criminal energy, you can’t do anything about it. This will always exist in our job,” he added.

Kasper Villiger, the chairman of the UBS board, told the Neue Zürcher Zeitung newspaper on Saturday that he was convinced the management of the bank had succeeded in bringing its risk management and monitoring system into line with today’s requirements.

“The fact that such a thing can nevertheless happen shows that there are still gaps which need to be closed,” he said.

The trader who allegedly made the unauthorised deals appeared in court in London on Friday, and was charged with fraud and false accounting.

In compliance with the JTI standards

More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative

You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!

If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR