Marcel Ospel, chairman of the board of UBS, has decided to withdraw his candidacy for re-election to the Board at the Annual General Meeting on 23 April 2008.
The board of directors has accepted its chairman’s decision with regret. At the same time, the board proposes that the Annual General Meeting elect Peter Kurer to the board to succeed Ospel as chairman.
“My willingness to stand for re-election for a further one-year term was based on my desire to lead UBS out of its current difficult situation. We have worked very hard and have been able to address the firm’s most pressing problems, thereby laying the foundation for the long-term success of the bank. I have always stated that I ultimately take responsibility for the bank’s situation. With the measures that we have already taken, the proposals we are submitting to the Annual General Meeting and the processes we have put in place to deal with lessons learned, I believe that I have made all necessary contributions. On this basis, I remain very confident in the future prospects of UBS,” says Ospel.
“The events since the summer of 2007 have affected the bank to an unexpected degree and have proved a great challenge for management and for the board of directors. Marcel Ospel resolutely led the bank through these difficult times and made a decisive contribution to solving its problems. Over the course of the last ten years Marcel Ospel led UBS to the top of industry rankings. We, inside and outside the bank, have known him as an outstanding banker. On behalf of the board I would like to thank him for his tireless efforts in the last few months,” adds Sergio Marchionne, vice chairman, UBS.
The board of directors proposes to the Annual General Meeting that it elect Kurer, group general counsel of UBS, to the board. It plans to appoint Kurer to succeed Ospel as chairman.
Kurer joined UBS in 2001 as group general counsel and has been a member of the group executive board since 2002. The board of directors thanks him for his willingness to take over this responsibility.
This appointment is part of an extensive process, which is already underway, whereby the board is reviewing the root causes of and lessons learned from its subprime losses. In particular, the board is thoroughly examining governance, strategy implementation, risk management, monitoring, and control systems, incentive plans and succession planning and is committed to making all necessary adaptations and changes to ensure it establishes best practices in these areas.
“Peter Kurer has a long and distinguished career as a lawyer in private practice and manager of a large legal and compliance function. He also brings a great deal of experience as a member of boards of financial and other firms and has a thorough knowledge of global financial markets and UBS. The board believes that this experience will prove most valuable at this juncture,” says Helmut Panke, chairman of the nominating committee of the UBS board.
“I consider this appointment an honour and great challenge. I am committed to doing everything I can, in the interests of shareholders, clients, employees and the communities in which we do business, to further help UBS return to success,” adds Kurer.