The UBS barney is getting going ahead of next week’s shareholder meeting.
Just as Peter Kurer, newly anointed chairman, was defending his appointment in the FT, his most prominent detractors struck again.
Olivant, the investment group which has been rallying support against Mr Kurer’s appointment among its institutional shareholders, called on the beleaguered bank’s board to commit to carry out a proper search for a chairman. Their beef is with the internal elevation of Mr Kurer to the chairman’s office without, they believe, an attempt to conduct a credible search for an alternative.
This time they have names, though:
We believe that none of the most appropriately qualified Swiss bankers, such as Messrs. Ackermann, Rudloff or Granziol, were approached on even an informal basis.
That’s Deutsche’s Josef Ackermann, Hans-Jorg Rudloff, chairman of BarCap, and Markus Granziol, a former UBS banker. So it’s a fair assumption that Olivant, headed by former UBS chief Luqman Arnold, has been in contact with the three esteemed names mentioned, to establish that they were not approached and to gauge their interest. In the rarefied world of Swiss banking, you don’t chuck around a fellow grandee’s name without first getting the all-clear.
The latest letter adds:
We consider Mr. Kurer to be an insider, as a member — for seven years — of the Group Executive Board, and of the risk Committee. On this basis, we do not believe that he can bring the objectivity required to the role, nor that he represents a break from the insular corporate governance tradition of UBS. We are pleased that he plans to disband the executive Chairman’s Office of the Supervisory Board, but note that he played a pivotal role as General Counsel in supporting its establishment by Mr. Ospel in 2002.
We also note that Mr. Kurer has no banking, strategic, credit or market risk experience — all skills that are of critical importance given the situation in which UBS finds itself. In addition, whilst we have the highest respect for the experience represented by the other members of the Supervisory Board, they, excepting Executive Deputy Chairman Haeringer, also lack these specific skills. Nor has Mr. Kurer led any public company in the capacity of Chairman, CEO, CFO or equivalent.
We do not believe Mr Kurer is the best qualified, or right, candidate to take over as Chairman of a bank with a complex business model, that has recorded the largest proprietary trading losses in history, has 85,000 employees, a balance sheet of over $2 trillion and significant strategic challenges and opportunities. We can see no rational reason for the Supervisory Board to recommend his nomination other than to exclude an outsider.
Mr Kurer, formerly UBS’s general counsel, told the FT that the criticism against him could be seen to be “discriminatory” against lawyers.
So:
Q: What’s the difference between a lawyer and an onion?
A: You cry when you cut up an onion.
Q: What’s wrong with lawyer jokes?
A: Lawyers don’t think they’re funny and other people don’t think they’re jokes.
Q: How do you get a group of lawyers to smile for a photo?
A: Just say, “Fees!”
Oh, actually, that last one works for bankers too.
Related links
UBS faces three-year fight for reputation – FT.com