UBS is replacing its chief communicator and branding executive – a job that reports directly to CEO Ralph Hamers.
The Swiss-based bank is appointing Marsha Askins as its head of communications and branding, from January 1, a person familiar with the appointment told finews.asia on Thursday. Askins, who is American, is currently chief of staff to private bank co-head Tom Naratil.
The move fills a 15-month vacancy after Hubertus Kuelps left for Pictet last September. Askins, who has been with UBS since 2007, will relocate to Zurich from New York for the job. A spokesman for UBS didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
Ringside To C-Suite
She will report directly to Ralph Hamers, who became CEO of the $2.6 trillion wealth manager six weeks ago. Because of this, her hire will also end the cumbersome combined research, data analytics, and communications department introduced last year under Juan Luis Perez.
The top communications job is a permanent guest at meetings of the Swiss bank’s 13-person top management and oversees a budget of several hundred million. Kuelps had been in the job for seven years – much of ex-CEO Sergio Ermotti's tenure.
Parachuting Into Crisis
The first woman to hold the job, Askins comes into the role as Hamers faces an unexpected, major crisis: a Dutch court on Wednesday ordered his role in a money-laundering scandal at ING, which he ran until this summer, to be investigated by prosecutors.
The Swiss bank immediately backed him, and he also passed fitness and probity requirements by the Swiss financial regulator Finma. The investigation revives for Hamers a matter which ING set aside in 2018 by paying 775 million euros ($940 million).
