Shareholders calling for Weber to join UBS now
A GROUP of shareholders yesterday led the calls for Alex Weber to join UBS early as more contenders emerged for the chief executive’s role.
Swiss campaigning group Ethos said UBS could use an EGM, within a month, to install Weber, amid claims the former Bundesbank chief has been has been involved in all strategic decisions since the $2.3bn (£1.5bn) “rogue” trade emerged.
Weber is set to join the UBS board next year and replace Kaspar Villiger as chairman in 2013. Last night the bank declined to comment on suggestions this could be accelerated but pointed to an interview in which Villiger said the board saw “no reason” to change the plan.
The Bundesbank would need to agree to Weber joining UBS early but said no request had been received.
It came as several other candidates emerged to replace Oswald Gruebel, who resigned despite winning a vote of confidence from the board. Interim head Sergio Ermotti and Bill Winters, the former co-chief executive at JPMorgan Investment Bank, are seen as contenders alongside Weber, Lukas Gähwiler, head of UBS Switzerland and Hugo Banziger, chief risk officer at Deutsche Bank.