Ermotti to leave UBS in April 2027 after completing Credit Suisse project, FT reports

ZURICH, Jan 13 (Reuters) – UBS CEO Sergio Ermotti, who oversaw the Swiss bank’s emergency takeover of former rival Credit Suisse, plans to step down in April 2027, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday.

Ermotti vowed in 2024 to lead UBS “at the very least” until the integration was finished at the end of 2026 or early 2027.

UBS, which declined to comment on the FT report, currently aims to “substantially” finish the integration by end-2026.

Ermotti, 65, who also headed UBS from 2011 to 2020, was drafted back in 2023 to steer the Credit Suisse takeover, taking advantage of the veteran Swiss banker’s experience of rebuilding Switzerland’s biggest bank after the global financial crisis.

“It comes as no surprise that … Ermotti wants to step down in April 2027,” said Vontobel banking analyst Andreas Venditti.

Shares in UBS have surged nearly 30% in the past year as investors piled into European banking stocks in general and as expectations grow that the Swiss government will water down proposed capital rules for the country’s biggest lender.

UBS shares have more than doubled in value since the eve of its purchase of the collapsed Credit Suisse. The stock rose 0.4% in early trading on Tuesday following the FT report, in line with gains across the wider European banking sector.

Aleksandar Ivanovic, head of asset management at UBS, has emerged as one of the executives most likely to succeed Ermotti, the FT reported, citing sources. 

Vontobel analyst Venditti said this was surprising, but added that Ivanovic’s business has recently performed better than any other division at UBS.

Others who insiders have said are in contention for the CEO job include UBS’ Americas president Robert Karofsky and Asia Pacific boss Iqbal Khan, Reuters has previously reported.

Bea Martin, who was named chief operating officer in October, has also been floated as a contender.

The FT report comes as UBS is trying to fight the Swiss government’s proposals to strengthen banking rules. 

Ermotti said late last year that UBS aimed to keep operating out of Switzerland, but that the government’s capital proposals were not acceptable to the bank.

(Reporting by Shubham Kalia in Bengaluru and Ariane Luthi in Zurich, Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala, Jamie Freed and Alexander Smith)