The high remuneration packages going to UBS CEO Sergio Ermotti and co. have caused a lot of red faces in Swiss politics. However, the pay increase is just one part of the windfall for UBS executives in recent months.
The UBS shares increased by more than 50 percent at the stock market within a year – a situation which was just as important for the accumulation of wealth of UBS’ top managers.
Profit of 136 Million Francs
According to the annual report published last Thursday, the 16 management members and twelve board members of the UBS group owned 15.3 million of their employer’s shares at the end of 2023. On the reporting date, this corresponded to a taxable value of 399 million Swiss francs ($16.5 million).
If the UBS share price had remained stable throughout 2023, the 15.3 million securities would «only» have had a value of 263 million francs. The UBS share price rallies which were recorded in the months following the Credit Suisse (CS) takeover earned the top bankers a profit of 136 million francs, «SonntagsBlick» calculated.
State Support
The interesting thing here is: the massive book profits enjoyed by the UBS top tier would have been inconceivable without the CS deal.
To make the takeover possible, the government – with finance minister Karin Keller-Sutter at the forefront – took the risk with 109 billion francs. A further 100 billion francs in unsecured liquidity assistance was provided by the national bank.
