lorenzo63
Age quod Agis
UBS:Grübel Needs a Miracle to Turn Around UBS
Visto il titolo c'è manco bisogno di fare il sunto...
Cometh the hour, cometh back the man? Oswald Grübel has a legendary reputation in banking circles borne of his success as boss of Credit Suisse between 2003-2007. If he can repeat the trick at UBS, where he is to replace Marcel Rohner as chief executive with immediate effect, he will be a hero not only to the Swiss bank but Switzerland itself at a time of crisis for its most important national industry.
Despite a 16% rise in UBS shares on Thursday, investors shouldn't expect Mr. Grübel to pull rabbits from his hat.
Mr. Grübel is certainly worthy of the hopes being placed in him. His track record at Credit Suisse, where he was responsible for clearing up after the bank was hit by major losses and regulatory troubles, is undisputable. First with John Mack, now at Morgan Stanley, and from 2004 onwards on his own, he slashed costs and tamed the boom-and-bust culture at the investment bank, ultimately selling insurer Winterthur.
That said, Mr. Grübel was lucky with the timing of his last retirement in 2007 at the peak of the boom before initial signs of subprime crisis emerged. But that is unlikely to bother investors. And his turnaround at Credit Suisse took place against the backdrop of far more favorable market and economic conditions than exist today. Plus the challenges are far greater, with Swiss bank secrecy under threat as never before and UBS itself facing demands to hand over 52,000 client records to the U.S.
Still, part of the relief at his appointment is simply that he is not Mr. Rohner, whose credibility was undermined by his claim to be totally unaware of wrong-doing at the U.S. offshore business that ultimately reported to him. Mr. Rohner, just 42 years old when he was thrust into the top job in 2007, also found it hard to win support as he went hat in hand first to Singapore and the Middle East, then shareholders, and ultimately the Swiss government for help.
Mr. Grübel has tried to play down expectations for the future at UBS. He has declined to confirm his chairman's net profit goal for this year and warned employees to brace for painful cuts. That seems wise. He may be one of the only people in the world with the credibility, experience and inside knowledge of Swiss banking to take on UBS. But if nervous clients fearing the erosion of banking secrecy start fleeing again, there is little that Mr. Grübel or any other CEO of UBS could do about it.
Visto il titolo c'è manco bisogno di fare il sunto...
Cometh the hour, cometh back the man? Oswald Grübel has a legendary reputation in banking circles borne of his success as boss of Credit Suisse between 2003-2007. If he can repeat the trick at UBS, where he is to replace Marcel Rohner as chief executive with immediate effect, he will be a hero not only to the Swiss bank but Switzerland itself at a time of crisis for its most important national industry.
Despite a 16% rise in UBS shares on Thursday, investors shouldn't expect Mr. Grübel to pull rabbits from his hat.
Mr. Grübel is certainly worthy of the hopes being placed in him. His track record at Credit Suisse, where he was responsible for clearing up after the bank was hit by major losses and regulatory troubles, is undisputable. First with John Mack, now at Morgan Stanley, and from 2004 onwards on his own, he slashed costs and tamed the boom-and-bust culture at the investment bank, ultimately selling insurer Winterthur.
That said, Mr. Grübel was lucky with the timing of his last retirement in 2007 at the peak of the boom before initial signs of subprime crisis emerged. But that is unlikely to bother investors. And his turnaround at Credit Suisse took place against the backdrop of far more favorable market and economic conditions than exist today. Plus the challenges are far greater, with Swiss bank secrecy under threat as never before and UBS itself facing demands to hand over 52,000 client records to the U.S.
Still, part of the relief at his appointment is simply that he is not Mr. Rohner, whose credibility was undermined by his claim to be totally unaware of wrong-doing at the U.S. offshore business that ultimately reported to him. Mr. Rohner, just 42 years old when he was thrust into the top job in 2007, also found it hard to win support as he went hat in hand first to Singapore and the Middle East, then shareholders, and ultimately the Swiss government for help.
Mr. Grübel has tried to play down expectations for the future at UBS. He has declined to confirm his chairman's net profit goal for this year and warned employees to brace for painful cuts. That seems wise. He may be one of the only people in the world with the credibility, experience and inside knowledge of Swiss banking to take on UBS. But if nervous clients fearing the erosion of banking secrecy start fleeing again, there is little that Mr. Grübel or any other CEO of UBS could do about it.
