Updated 22:00 with links on reactions Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – UBS shareholders meet today, 15 April, to approve the new governing board of the bank at the annual general meeting (AGM). Before the doors opened the bank had made a pre-announcement that first quarter 2009 losses amount to nearly CHF2 billion and that it will cut 8,700 jobs, for a global workforce that will be reduced to 67,500 in 2010. Nearly one-third of the bank’s employees are in Switzerland and 2,500 of the job cuts will be in Switzerland, with 1,200-1,500 of them through layoffs. UBS says it expects to cut costs by CHF3.5 to 4 billion by the end of 2010, compared to 2008 costs.
Walter Kielholz
Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The musical chairs of large Swiss companies, banks in particular, continues Monday with Walter Kielholz, chairman of Credit Suisse, the country’s second largest bank, retiring from the post in order to devote himself to his job as the next chairman of Swiss Re, where he is currently vice-chairman.
Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Marcel Rohner, CEO of Switzerland’s largest bank, UBS, has handed in his resignation, effective immediately. The bank has hired Oswald Gruebel, former head of Credit Suisse to replace him. Gruebel faces an uphill battle: bank shares have falled to historic lows this week while the bank fights a major court case in the US to protect client names as well as legal cases in Switzerland, where wealthy private clients have gone to court to protect the privacy of their data.
