UBS CEO Ermotti to join as Swiss Re chief

He is replacing current chairman, Walter Kielholz, who will stand for re-election at next month’s annual shareholder meeting, and would then step down in time for Ermotti to take his place as of the 2021 meeting.

A spokesperson for UBS declined to comment. UBS last month named ING Groep NV’s Ralph Hamers as its next CEO to succeed Ermotti, one of the longest-serving European bank CEOs. 

Ermotti, who became UBS’s CEO in 2011, strengthened his legacy early by responding to the financial crisis by making profound reductions to trading and increasing the focus on managing money for the rich. 

Ermotti’s final year leading UBS -- his ninth year at the helm of the Swiss bank -- was marred by huge legal fines, questions about succession planning and a deepening slump in the share price. Hamers will succeed Ermotti effective Nov. 1.

Swiss financial industry veteran Walter Kielholz has been chairman of Swiss Re since 2009 and joined the board of directors of what was then Swiss Reinsurance Co Ltd in 1998.

Swiss financial industry veteran Walter Kielholz has been chairman of Swiss Re since 2009 and joined the board of directors of what was then Swiss Reinsurance Co Ltd in 1998.

In his last two years there, Emrotti served as co-Head of Global Equity Markets and as a member of the Executive Management Committee for Global Markets & Investment Banking. Ermotti is a Swiss-certified banking expert and is a graduate of the Advanced Management Programme at Oxford University.

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