The Swiss giant UBS is doing away with an elite cadre of uber-managing directors. This means an effective demotion for more than 100 of UBS' top bankers.
Zurich-based UBS will abolish the status of group managing directors as part of a simplification of its top ranks under CEO Ralph Hamers, according to a memo seen by finews.com on Thursday. A spokesman for UBS confirmed the move, to be effective from January 1.
The more than 100 GMDs formed a kind of Praetorian Guard around UBS' C-suite and enjoyed huge influence. They include ultra-rich banker Josef «Joe» Stadler; trouble-shooter and domestic operating chief Karin Oertli; and Emma Molvidson, the investigative head who handled a case of a UBS investment banker who allegedly raped a trainee of the bank.
Hidebound Hierarchy
Hamers, who went up against a hidebound hierarchy when he took over as CEO one year ago, will leave pay and other employment terms for the GMDs unchanged. He called this simplification «a logical step in our evolution and path to simplification and one-firm thinking.»
Besides being numerous, the GMDs are costly: they make up part of 675 key UBS risk-takers, a group that took home a cumulative $1.25 billion on pay and bonuses in 2019 (or nearly $2 million on average). The simplification extends to a caste of well-paid vice-chairmen as well, who will simply become managing directors.
