Troubled Swiss bank UBS made another major management reshuffle yesterday, saying its chairman Peter Kurer would step down and former Swiss finance minister Kaspar Villiger was nominated to succeed him.
The latest change sees another member of the old guard at Switzerland’s biggest bank being replaced by an outsider, barely a week after its chief executive Marcel Rohner resigned and was replaced by former Credit Suisse chief executive Oswald Gruebel.
It gave a boost to the share price, which opened up 3.34 percent at 10.22 Swiss francs.
UBS has been struggling to recover after losing billions in the US subprime home loan crisis and the ensuing financial meltdown. It is also caught up in a legal dispute with the US over a tax evasion probe.
UBS vice-chairman Sergio Marchionne said the “extent and speed of deterioration of market conditions” could not have been forecast, and credited Kurer for helping to put UBS “back on track.”
Kurer said most of the tasks he set out to achieve, including the reduction of risks and re-examination of the bank’s strategy, have been “accomplished in a short period of time.”
“I now think it is time to complete this transition and leave the office at the end of my one-year term,” he said in a statement.
Amid the bank’s legal troubles in the US over allegations it helped wealthy Americans evade taxes, Kurer has come under pressure in recent months due to his previous position at the bank as chief legal officer.
UBS has now nominated 68-year-old Villiger, who was Switzerland’s finance minister between 1995 and 2003, to take over.
PLA MANEUVERS: Although Beijing has yet to formally announce military drills, its coast guard vessels have been spotted near and around Taiwan since Friday The Taiwanese military is on high alert and is closely monitoring the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) air and naval deployments after Beijing yesterday reserved seven airspace areas east of its Zhejiang and Fujian provinces through Wednesday. Beijing’s action was perceived as a precursor to a potential third “Joint Sword” military exercise, which national security experts said the PLA could launch following President William Lai’s (賴清德) state visits to the nation’s three Pacific allies and stopovers in Hawaii and Guam last week. Unlike the Joint Sword military exercises in May and October, when Beijing provided detailed information about the affected areas, it
CHINA: The activities come amid speculation that Beijing might launch military exercises in response to Lai’s recent visit to Pacific allies The Ministry of National Defense (MND) yesterday said China had nearly doubled the number of its warships operating around the nation in the previous 24 hours, ahead of what security sources expect would be a new round of war games. China’s military activities come amid speculation Beijing might organize military drills around the nation in response to President William Lai’s (賴清德) recent visit to Pacific allies, including stops in Hawaii and Guam, a US territory. Lai returned from the week-long trip on Friday night. Beijing has held two rounds of war games around Taiwan this year, and sends ships and military planes
Five flights have been arranged to help nearly 2,000 Taiwanese tourists return home from Okinawa after being stranded due to cruise ship maintenance issues, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications announced yesterday. China Airlines Ltd (中華航空), and EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空) have arranged five flights with a total of 748 additional seats to transport 1,857 passengers from the MSC Bellissima back to Taiwan, the ministry said. The flights have been scheduled for yesterday and today by the Civil Aviation Administration, with the cruise operator covering all associated costs. The MSC Bellissima, carrying 4,341 passengers, departed from Keelung on Wednesday last week for Okinawa,
US president-elect Donald Trump said he would “never say” if Washington is committed to defending Taiwan from China, but “I would prefer that they do not do it [ an attack],” adding that he has a “good relationship” with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). “I never say because I have to negotiate things, right?” Trump said in an interview with NBC’s Meet the Press host Kristen Welker after saying he would not reveal his incoming administration’s stance on Taiwan’s defense in the event of an attack. Asked the question again, Trump, in a reference to China, said: “I would prefer that they
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