Published March 5, 2009

Former Swiss president to be UBS chairman

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(BERN, Switzerland) UBS AG said yesterday that former Swiss president Kaspar Villiger will replace Peter Kurer as chairman of the board next month in an attempt to bring the bank back to profitability and deal with a major US tax evasion probe.

Mr Villiger: Being interviewed after a press conference in Zurich yesterday. He will replace Peter Kurer as chairman of the board next month

Mr Kurer will leave on April 15 after one year on the job, during which Switzerland's largest bank reported record losses and was faced with US allegations that it helped Americans evade taxes.

'One year ago I accepted the position of chairman out of my sense of responsibility for the bank, its shareholders, clients, staff and the communities in which we work,' Mr Kurer said in a statement. 'I now think it is time to complete this transition and leave the office at the end of my one-year term.'

Mr Kurer, whom many considered a temporary appointment when tapped last year, came under increasing pressure as US tax authorities accused UBS of aggressive cloak-and-dagger tactics to attract wealthy American clients allegedly evading taxes.

Although Switzerland's financial services authority FINMA said Mr Kurer did not know details of UBS' client strategies in the US, many Swiss politicians and experts urged that he resign.

Mr Villiger's nomination comes after UBS last week appointed Oswald Gruebel, a former CEO at crosstown rival Credit Suisse, as its new chief executive to replace Marcel Rohner.

Mr Villiger said in a statement he would relinquish his membership on the boards of Nestle, Swiss Re and daily Neue Zuercher Zeitung, which he has held since 2004.

The 68-year-old was a member of the Swiss Cabinet from 1989 to 2003 and held the country's rotating one-year presidency in 1995 and 2002.

Mr Villiger said he accepted the chair 'out of a sense of service to this country and its people'. -- AP