UBS banker strikes deal to close fixed income units
A TOP UBS banker is in with a chance of making millions from running down the group’s fixed income units, it emerged over the weekend.
Plans to close much of the group’s investment banking operations were announced last week, with 10,000 jobs expected to go by the end of 2015.
Those began with around 100 London staff losing their jobs immediately.
Investment bank co-head Carsten Kengeter has left the bank’s executive team and is now leading the of 300 staff winding down the units.
If he is successful in shutting the operations profitably, he will get a share of those profits in a bonus.
The bank declined to comment on the report.
But a source told City A.M. that the bank is under no pressure to wind down operations rapidly and so wants to make the most of the opportunity.
“There is no pressing capital need to shrink these operations, or regulatory pressure,” the source said.
“We have done this before – in the private equity divestment, for example – and are not going to destroy value.”
And on Kengeter’s pay, he added: “There needs to be an incentive to keep these people here.”
Meanwhile Swiss newspaper Der Sonntag said Kengeter is on a “new, lucrative contract” to manage the change.
The bank is closing down the fixed income operations to focus on its more profitable wealth management arm and corporate finance.
Andrea Orcel has been appointed chief executive of the investment bank advisory business. He joined UBS and its executive board in July of this year, before plans to run down the fixed income business were announced.