UBS AG
Bahnoffstrasse 45
CH08098 Zurich,
Switzerland
011 41 1 234 11 11
&
Aeschenvorstadt 1
CH-4051 Basel,
Switzerland
011 41 61 288 20 20
www.ubs.com
2003 operating income:
$27.3 billion
2003 operating expenses:
$20.6 billion
2003 net profit: $5.0
billion
2003
investment banking
revenues: $11.2 billion
2003 fees from
underwriting: $1.8
billion
2003 total capital:
$26.9 billion
2003
total employees: 65,929
Chairman:
Marcel Ospel
President/CEO of the
Group Executive Board:
Peter Wuffli
UBS is a
Swiss public company
engaged in the global
financial services
business.
As
mandated by Swiss
banking laws, the
company operates under a
strict dual board
structure to maintain
separation of powers.
The functions of the
chairman of the board of
directors are separate
from that of the CEO.
The board is the most
senior body with
ultimate responsibility
for management of the
company and supervision
of executive management.
History
In 1912,
the Bank of Winturther
(formed in 1862) merged
with the Bank of
Toggenburg (formed in
1863) to form the Union
Bank of Switzerland (UBS).
UBS grew after World War
I, but was hit hard by
the Depression. It
gained business from
both Nazis and Jews
during and after Word
War II because of
Switzerland's neutral
position on the War.
The
company opened its New
York office in 1946 and
opened a number of
securities underwriting
subsidiaries outside
Switzerland in the
1970s. The company's
brokerage business
suffered significant
losses in the 1987 U.S.
stock market crash. U.S.
operations were also
took a beating by the
collapse of the junk
bond market in 1990.
The early
1990s was marked by
plummeting profits, a
result of the recession
as well as structural
problems within the
company. In 1994, a
stockholder, Martin
Ebner tried to oust
President Robert Studer
and take control of the
company. When that did
not succeed, he tried to
have Studer charged with
criminal fraud.
Shareholder
dissatisfaction and the
company's overall poor
performance led to a
massive multi-year
reorganization of the
company. This included
cutting staff by 23
percent. The company
continued to face a
number of financial
crises, including losing
$1.6 billion with the
collapse of Long-Term
Capital Management hedge
fund. In 1998, UBS
merged with Swiss Bank
Corporation to become
UBS AG. Chairman Marcel
Webber was criticized
for the company's
handling of Swissair's
cash crisis in 2001.
Business
Segments
Its
business segments
include:
-
Wealth Management
-
Investment Banking and
Securities
-
Asset Management
-
Swiss Corporate and
Individual Clients
-
Corporate Center
Income/Revenues from
Business Segments
Net
profits increased 81
percent, from $2.8
billion in 2002 to $5.0
billion in 2003.
Investment banking
revenues dropped 11
percent in 2003, from
$1.5 billion a year
earlier. Investment
banking income, however,
increased from $9.8
billion in 2002 to $11.3
billion in 2003.
2003 was
a record year in terms
of underwriting
activities. Underwriting
fees increased 10
percent from $1.6
billion to $1.8 billion.
The
company's 2003 Form
20-F, which is the
equivalent of the 10-K
for foreign companies,
included total
underwriting fees under
net fee and commission
income generated by the
company's security
trading and investment
activity fees. Net fee
and commission income
for the year was $13.9
billion.
