Chairman Confirms UBS is in Early Stages of CEO Succession Plan

UBS is in the early stages of finding a successor for its Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Sergio Ermotti. However, it is in no hurry to replace its leader, the chairman of the multinational investment bank said on Monday.

Ermotti is one of the longest-serving CEOs in Europe’s banking industry. Because of this, speculation has been brewing as to when a replacement will be announced, fuelled by a recent report from Bloomberg.

According to the article, the Switzerland-headquartered bank is in talks with Christian Meissner, the former head of investment banking at Bank of America Corp. as a potential replacement for Ermotti, who has been the CEO since November 2011 and held the position of interim CEO before that for one month in September.

Before this, he was the Deputy CEO at UniCredit, an Italian global banking and financial services company, from 2001 until 2010.

Speaking in an interview with the news outlet, Chairman Axel Weber said today that UBS is at a “very early stage” of planning for its next leader. “It’s not going to happen abruptly. We’re in a very good environment. We’re not driven by the clock.”

Succession Planning is “Part in Parcel”

Weber highlighted that in positions such as CEO and chairman, “succession planning is part in parcel of what we do.” He went on to say that both himself and Ermotti have been in their roles for almost eight years, so it is a natural time to start thinking about how they will pass on the bank to successors.

However, Weber declined to confirm the speculation regarding Meissner, adding: “Part of what we do as a day-to-day business is to get as much talent into the bank as we can, good people, and in that process we are of course interviewing people. But again, I don’t want to confirm or deny any discussions on any individuals."