Former Credit Suisse Group CEO
Oswald J. Grübel, 65, has come out of retirement, again. This time it's to lead UBS out of its doldrums. UBS surprised onlookers Thursday, announcing its chief Marcel Rohner would leave the bank. Rohner took over as CEO in 2007, replacing then-chief Peter Wuffli as UBS suffered billions of dollars in write-downs.
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Now comes Grübel (pictured), who was nicknamed "Saint Ossi" while he
was at Credit Suisse, becoming the architect for its turnaround. He has
his work cut out for him. UBS is Europe's biggest loser in the credit
crunch and required a Sfr60 billion ($51 billion) bailout from the Swiss government.
Its clients are defecting, and it's facing an American inquiry about
tax evasion involving 52,000 U.S. clients.
The
news of Grübel coming in, however, sent UBS shares for a welcome ride
upwards. He said in a statement, "The opportunity to lead UBS with its
unique client franchise in wealth management, investment banking and
asset management in these extraordinary times presents a fascinating,
yet formidable challenge to me. Together with our 77,000 dedicated
employees, I will do all I can to bring UBS back on a profitable,
successful track."
Grübel began his career in 1961 with a
banking apprenticeship at Deutsche Bank AG in Mannheim. In 1970, he
joined White Weld Securities, a subsidiary of the Schweizerische
Kreditanstalt (the former Credit Suisse). He actually retired at the
end of 2001, but came back six months later as CEO of Credit Suisse
Financial Services.
Credit Suisse still has
a profile of Grübel as he rose through the ranks, eventually retiring on May 4, 2007. -
Baz HiralalGo to the storySee "Saint Ossi's" profile
