Jan 13 (Reuters) – UBS Group’s veteran CEO Sergio Ermotti, who helped the lender navigate the takeover and integration of former rival Credit Suisse, is planning to step down in April 2027, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday.
Aleksandar Ivanovic, UBS’s asset management chief, has emerged as one of the executives most likely to succeed Ermotti, the FT reported citing sources.
Reuters could not immediately verify the report. UBS did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside regular business hours.
Ermotti headed UBS from 2011 to 2020 and was rehired as CEO in 2023 to steer its massive takeover of Credit Suisse to take advantage of the Swiss banker’s experience of rebuilding the bank after the global financial crisis.
He had previously pledged to lead UBS “at the very least” until the Credit Suisse integration was finished at the end of 2026 or early 2027. UBS currently aims to “substantially” finish the integration by end-2026.
The lender’s shares have surged nearly 30% in the past year, and have more than doubled in value since the eve of its purchase of the collapsed Credit Suisse.
The other leading candidates to succeed Ermotti are UBS’s wealth management co-heads Iqbal Khan and Robert Karofsky, the FT reported. Bea Martin, who was named the bank’s chief operating officer in October, is also seen as a contender, it said.
The report comes at a time when UBS is trying to fight the Swiss government’s proposals to strengthen banking rules.
Ermotti had said late last year that UBS aimed to keep operating out of Switzerland, but also said that the capital proposals by the Swiss government were not acceptable to the bank.
(Reporting by Shubham Kalia in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)
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