In an interview with the SonntagsZeitung newspaper, Villiger said the market environment had deteriorated sharply and the regulatory environment was significantly different, making it difficult for the bank to reach its targets, including a pre-tax profit or about SFr15 billion ($17.8 billion).
Villiger said there were no plans for UBS to sell its wealth management business in the United States, despite the unit’s disappointing results.
He justified a one-off payment of about SFr5 million to Axel Weber, a former president of Deutsche Bundesbank, to take over from Villiger in 2013. Weber is likely to join the UBS board of directors next May.
“We have to adapt to the global market,” Villiger was quoted as saying.
The payment was sharply criticised by Ethos and Actares, two leading shareholder activists and investor groups, according to the SonntagsZeitung.
Salaries of managers and boards members have become a highly controversial political issue in Switzerland over the past few years. Voters are likely to have the final say on two separate proposals to cap salaries.
Parliament has been struggling to agree legal amendments to counter the people’s initiatives.
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.
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UBS shareholders approve bonus increases
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At Wednesday’s annual general meeting of the bank in Basel 54.7 per cent of shareholders voted to accept the report, with 39.4 per cent against and 5.8 per cent abstaining. Earlier the bank’s chairman, former Swiss cabinet minister Kaspar Villiger, said UBS had lost entire investment teams and their clients to rival banks last year…
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He is to be nominated for election to the board of directors of the Swiss bank in May 2012, and if elected will be appointed vice-chairman. In a statement, UBS said after his first year in office he is expected to take over from Villiger in 2013. Villiger praised Weber’s “extremely broad expertise in international…
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Chief Executive Oswald Grübel again waived his bonus and the bank’s top earner saw his pay slashed with a greater portion of variable pay hinging on long-term targets. But some staff and shareholders remain unimpressed. With political and public pressure on “fat cat” bonuses showing little sign of relenting, the announcement of UBS’s compensation statistics…
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At the bank’s annual general meeting on Wednesday, shareholders voted against exonerating the bank’s 2007 management, which includes former chairman Marcel Ospel, from all blame. The rebellion opens the door to possible civil or even criminal law suits. The Swiss bank’s current leadership had urged shareholders to clear their predecessors of blame following an internal…
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Over the past few years, UBS has garnered a lot of negative press. Extraordinary general assemblies and public protests have been occuring with increasing frequency.
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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.