UBSÂ has announced that Sergio Ermotti is stepping down as chief executive officer (CEO) and will be replaced by ING's Ralph Hamers.
According to UBS, the world's largest wealth manager, its current CEO Sergio Ermotti will be leaving his post and will be succeeded by Ralph Hamers, the current chief executive of Dutch bank ING.
UBS chairman Axel Weber said Hamers "is the right CEO to lead our business into its next chapter." The ING CEO will officially take over the position on November 1.
Ermotti became UBS' chief executive in 2011 following a rogue trader scandal that cost the company $2 billion. He spearheaded initiatives to boost the Swiss bank's wealth management business amid continued weakness at its investment banking division.
He placed a particular focus on Asia in his strategy. UBS became he first foreign bank to be allowed to take control of its business in China in 2018 when it received approval from regulators to increase its stake in a joint venture in the country to 51%.
In 2019, the Swiss bank formed a partnership with Japanese firm Sumitomo Mitsui Trust to establish a one-stop shop for asset management products and services.
The executive change at UBS is the second among major Swiss banks this year following the resignation of Credit Suisse CEO Tidjane Thiam earlier this month after the company was engulfed by an executive-level spying scandal.
While Thiam was cleared by an internal investigation of any wrongdoing, he still offered his resignation to the board and it accepted. He will be replaced by the head of Credit Suisse's Switzerland division, Thomas Gottstein, who has been with the bank since 1999.
The scandal involved private investigators following a former Credit Suisse banker who accepted a job at rival bank UBS. Investigators placed the blame on chief operating officer (COO) Pierre-Olivier Bouee, who was fired by the firm.
