One of UBS’ top managers has resigned, according to information obtained by finews.asia. He will be replaced by a tech specialist.

Ulrich Hoffmann, head of group operations at Switzerland’s largest bank, is leaving UBS to take on a new job outside the company. UBS confirmed the information contained in a letter sent to staff on Monday and seen by finews.asia.

Hoffmann was one of the bank’s most important managers over the past years. As head of operations, he didn’t seek the limelight but was an active supervisor of back and middle offices at the bank, the internal services as well as IT systems.

 Crucially Involved

He was crucially involved in the bank’s digitization development and the ongoing transformation of banking. At the end of last year he had surprised colleagues at a bankers’ do with a rather pessimistic forecast: digitization was making competition between banks even more brutal.

Hoffmann has 30 plus years of management experience at UBS. His replacement has been selected: Chris Gelvin (pictured below) will assume the role of head of group operations on July 1. He currently is the chief operating officer for the group COO.

Financial Technology Expert

Chris Gelvin 514

Gelvin is a tech and digitization expert who has already implemented a series of projects at the company. He’s been with UBS since 2006 after working for Accenture.

Sabine Magri takes over the role of Gelvin. She currently works as chief operating officer in HR.