Shareholders in Switzerland's biggest bank UBS have voted to appoint Swiss lawyer Peter Kurer as chairman. He replaces Marcel Ospel, who quit over the bank's massive sub-prime losses.
At the meeting, dozens of small shareholders voiced their anger after hearing that UBS's world-beating sub-prime losses of more than €23 billion may go higher still.
UBS reported a net loss of €2.5 billion in 2007, the first full-year loss in its history.
'It is a disastrous result, and it has eroded a great deal of trust,' UBS CEO Marcel Rohner said in a speech to the AGM.
'The far-reaching consequences of our misjudgement have already taken hold, and we cannot turn back the clock. We still have risk exposure, and the remaining portfolios are still subject to fluctuations,' he warned.
However, Rohner said the bank's 'problem positions are only about a third of what they were at the end of September 2007.'
On Monday, UBS sent shareholders a report detailing the causes that led to its massive sub-prime losses.
The 50-page document conceded that weak risk control and a pay structure that encouraged risky deals were among key factors leading to its massive losses.
At the same time, however, it said that one of the bank's key strategic objectives was its integrated business model and pointed out that the review saw no 'fundamental flaw in relation to its objectives.'
Rohner said the bank would reassess its investment banking unit, which has drawn criticism for being responsible for most of the sub-prime losses.
