he is the Swiss banker who denounced the Corriere.it trader scandal

Change at the top of Ubs, the Swiss giant that has just acquired Crdit Suisse after the collapse. The Board of Directors has appointed Sergio Ermotti Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Group Executive Board, effective April 5, 2023. Ermotti, who previously headed UBS, has resigned as chairman of Swiss Re. He will succeed Ralph Hamers, who has agreed to resign – reads a statement – to serve the interests of the new combination, the Swiss financial sector and the country. Sergio Ermotti is a Swiss banker and manager, president of Swiss Re since April 2021. For Ermotti it is a return: she had already been CEO of Ubs in the difficult years following the financial crisis that broke out at the end of 2008, taking over the reins of the bank as Chief Executive Officer from September 2011 to October 2020. At the helm of UBS, he exposed the 2011 rogue traders scandal, implementing strict company policies that govern EU standards and initiated a major restructuring of the bank around private banking and limited its sales operations.

The new challenges

Its immediate challenges include a restructuring of the new financial entity, including staff reductions and that of the Credit Suisse investment bank, but most importantly restore confidence in Swiss banks and Scrooge McDuck that UBS is still the best place to keep their money safe.

He wanted to be a footballer

Born in 1960 in Lugano, Switzerland, Ermotti at 15 theleaves school because he wants to be a footballer later deciding, at the age of 18, to be an apprentice (to catch up with accounting, finance and so on) at Cornr Banca in Lugano, the branch where his father worked. After completing his apprenticeship as a stockbroker, he is promoted to commercial agent within the same bank, obtains the Swiss Certified Banking Expert certificate and follows a three-week training course (Advanced Management Programme) at the University of Oxford.

The beginnings at Citigroup

In 1985 he returned to Switzerland, settling down in Zurich where he worked for two years at the Citigroup branch, dealing with structured bonds and holding the role of Resident Vice President. After working for Citigroup, Ermotti moved in 1987 to Merrill Lynchfirst in the Zurich office, where he managed the Swiss franc trading activities on the domestic market, and since 1993 in London as Head of the European Equity Derivatives Department. From 1994 to 1999 he was responsible for Merrill Lynch’s equity linked products and in 1999 headed the Equity Markets Department for EMEA. In 2001, he became executive director of global equity markets and joined the Executive Management Committee for Global Markets and Investment.

The arrival in Unicredit in Milan

In 2005 Ermotti leaves after 16 years Merrill Lynch for Unicredit, in Milan, holding the position of executive of stock markets and investments. Two years later he was appointed deputy managing director of the group, responsible for corporate business strategy and corporate and private investment areas, a position he will hold until 2010. In April 2011 appointed president and chief executive officer of UBS for EMEA and member of the group’s steering committee. On 24 September 2011, after the resignation of Oswald Grbel linked to a scandal, Ermotti was appointed CEO ad interim of Ubs, a position confirmed by the board of directors on 15 November 2011 and reconfirmed in 2014 by the parent company Ubs Group. The Sunday Schweiz am Sonntag indicated Ermotti as Manager of the Year 2015. In 2015 Ermotti was also the highest paid manager in Switzerland, with 14 million francs. In April 2021 appointed president of the Swiss Re insurance group.