FT Alphaville to senior UBS source, following news of Peter Wuffli’s sudden departure as chief executive:
So who in the UBS boardroom has blood on their hands?
“Have difficulty telling them apart, even on a good day.”
What happens next?
“This is a snap view, but Wuffli was vocally keen on a totally integrated approach, whereas with Raoul Weill moving over from wealth management to replace him — well, the assumption is that he does not hold the same view. So the big question going forward is what happens to the investment bank.”
Shareholder reaction?
“If the IB was sold I think the shares would go up. We’ll have a better idea at 10am when there’s a conference call.”
Truth to these rumours of discussions with Lehman?
“Did we talk? Er, yes…Gotta go….”
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FT Alphaville to very senior UBS source :
What’s actually happened at board level?
“To understand this you have to think back to what happened to Luqman Arnold. [Wuffli's predecessor, ousted as UBS president in December, 2001, after resisting the bank's decision to bailout Swissair.] If you cross Marcel Ospel you depart very quickly indeed. The Swiss then close ranks very quickly and things move on.”
But what did Wuffli do or object to? Was it over splitting off the IB?
“Can’t say. Don’t forget that Dillon Reed was deeply embarrassing.”
Speculation on the IB now?
“They’ve moved to head that one off — categorically stated that there is no change in strategy. Wuffli was hugely popular. He was a champion of the one-firm approach, but don’t forget the new guy is a superstar.
“This has just underlined the Swiss-ness of our organisation. Ok, bye…”
Click, brrrrrrrrr….