• 20 Oct 2011 at 10:46 AM

Bonus/Layoffs Watch ’11: UBS

If your employment with the Swiss bank falls in the investment bank, consider getting to keep your job this year’s bonus.

Sergio P. Ermotti, who has been at the helm for less than a month, has ruled out a sale or spinoff of the investment bank but has decided to significantly reduce its scope and size in order to bolster UBS’s focus on its giant wealth management business, according to people familiar with his thinking. The brunt of the proposed changes are expected to be felt in parts of the investment bank’s fixed-income business, the people familiar with the matter said. UBS’s investment bank employed 17,776 people around the world at the end of June, according to regulatory filings. The unit has a large presence in the U.S., where it employs thousands of traders and bankers, largely based in New York and Stamford, Conn., where it boasts one of the world’s largest trading floors.

In the summer, UBS announced plans for 3,500 layoffs, with around half of the job losses coming from the investment bank. It is unclear how many additional jobs would be affected by Mr. Ermotti’s proposed shake-up…Traders and bankers have already been bracing for job losses and much lower bonuses, and the announcement of Mr. Ermotti’s plans is likely to deepen those fears.

[WSJ]

Comments (40)

  1. Posted by UBS Sucks Guy | October 20, 2011 at 11:10 AM

    UBS Sucks!

  2. Posted by InfiniteGuest | October 20, 2011 at 11:15 AM

    Good time to make a little money for your next employer, give yourself a head start.

  3. Posted by Gravy Train | October 20, 2011 at 11:16 AM

    BONUS…..you don't have to work at UBS anymore!

    -Glass half full Quant

  4. Posted by Guest | October 20, 2011 at 11:19 AM

    UBS investment bank employs 17,776 people worldwide? And what do they do all they long? I always thought it was just Gruebel, a VP and an analyst.

  5. Posted by anon | October 20, 2011 at 11:19 AM

    Opening February 2012 in Stamford, CT: America's largest laser tag arena

  6. Posted by Honda of Stamford | October 20, 2011 at 11:19 AM

    Dammit.

  7. Posted by 2whale2whale | October 20, 2011 at 11:20 AM

    Doubling your monthly income by qualifying for unemployment benefits is the NKI.

  8. Posted by Guest | October 20, 2011 at 11:21 AM

    [Insert generic too big to fail/too fail to get big joke.]

  9. Posted by Guest | October 20, 2011 at 11:23 AM

    You really think three people could lose all that money?

    It takes planning, execution, and perseverance to build what UBS has.

  10. Posted by 2whale2whale | October 20, 2011 at 11:27 AM

    "But, honey, this is actually good for us! You see, now we are more likely to miss a payment on the Civic so our DVA just shot through the roof. We are making a killing, here. Trust me, I'm a finance professional."

    -UBS em dee in the near future

  11. Posted by Kia of Stanford | October 20, 2011 at 11:32 AM

    SWEET!

  12. Posted by geoffgeoffgeoff | October 20, 2011 at 11:33 AM

    Okay…so I think I might have an idea. A suggestion. A brilliant plan. What if we slope the floor, cover it in snow, and rent skis for $50/hour? We could even turn the reception area into a retail store.

    -Xanadu Quant

  13. Posted by Guest | October 20, 2011 at 11:39 AM

    Alternatively, now that Yucca Mountain is closed … Same purpose, less toxic.

  14. Posted by Lada of Stamford | October 20, 2011 at 11:54 AM

    Awesome!

    - in Soviet Russia car not good.

  15. Posted by guest | October 20, 2011 at 11:57 AM

    yes they all long, every worthless debt instrument west of moscow.

  16. Posted by Guest | October 20, 2011 at 12:00 PM

    Too soon

  17. Posted by guest | October 20, 2011 at 12:05 PM

    If you're too lazy to formulate the joke, at least ask for TheJokeBriefer.

    Just like the Batman, he's out there. watching over us.

  18. Posted by Neil deGrasse Tyson | October 20, 2011 at 12:06 PM

    Could we paint some glow-in-the-dark constellations on the ceiling? Because we've been looking into a suburban outpost. The school groups wouldn't mind a handful of traders, as long as they kept quiet when weeping. On second thought, let us know when it's empty, we can wait the few weeks.

  19. Posted by Anonymous | October 20, 2011 at 12:19 PM

    Looks like a new marketing program is in order.

    Harry O's Marketing Team
    (a few steps below Beamer's and damn proud of it)

  20. Posted by contango | October 20, 2011 at 12:27 PM

    all of the UBS talent has already left in mass exodus to raymond james

  21. Posted by Al Toom | October 20, 2011 at 12:30 PM

    Ask Serg what he is getting paid this year?!?

  22. Posted by dfdfd | October 20, 2011 at 12:41 PM

    Firing everyone and converting stamford to a giant hockey rink is the new killing it

  23. Posted by BessLevin | October 20, 2011 at 12:42 PM

    Giant Twister board. Get it right.

  24. Posted by guest of patrick | October 20, 2011 at 12:43 PM

    What do you call a Lada with twin tailpipes?

    A wheelbarrow!

    I'll be here all week, tip your wait staff……..

  25. Posted by Gramps | October 20, 2011 at 12:47 PM

    UBS fixed income means Grandma answering the phone and opening the door for the janitors at UBS's Park Ave. & Stamford offices while she collects her social security check.

  26. Posted by Guest | October 20, 2011 at 1:55 PM

    UBS is a joke

  27. Posted by Guest | October 20, 2011 at 2:08 PM

    Bunch of monkeys tapping at keyboards.

    ~OWS protestor

  28. Posted by GA Banker | October 20, 2011 at 2:29 PM

    When one guy can lose $2.3B, it doesn't take that many employees to really add up.

  29. Posted by Anonymous | October 20, 2011 at 3:20 PM

    too late – we already got it.

    Costco Real Estate Team

  30. Posted by Guest | October 20, 2011 at 7:23 PM

    Can we do some of that fancy image blow up enhancement on those computer screens? I'd like to buy the opposite of everything they're buying.

  31. Posted by Paul Allen | October 20, 2011 at 8:40 PM

    Promptly fuck your own face, then meet me at Tex-Arcana.

    -Patrick Bateman

  32. Posted by UBS Sucks Dick | October 20, 2011 at 9:01 PM

    Too late

  33. Posted by Guestard | October 20, 2011 at 9:32 PM

    fail

  34. Posted by the Truth | October 21, 2011 at 7:51 AM

    The lack of a comprehensive comment or a note of intelligence from every single comment here is shocking. Its no wonder you all make such worthless statements which nobody but yourselves care for. I think each of these so called "monkeys tapping at keyboards" as you so delicately stated work more harder in a day than you do in a week. So shut up unless you actually have something constructive to say.

  35. Posted by guest | October 21, 2011 at 8:36 AM

    You're no Lucas von Praag, further confirming that UBS does suck. Keep trying "more harder."

  36. Posted by Guestinho | October 21, 2011 at 8:43 AM

    "Work more harder"
    Other than that, I have no concerns.

  37. Posted by Stateworth Financial | October 21, 2011 at 8:51 AM

    I care for all my statements.

  38. Posted by HFguy | October 21, 2011 at 9:23 AM

    Ouch.

  39. Posted by HFguy | October 21, 2011 at 9:27 AM

    There is a difference between Working Hard and Working Smart.

  40. Posted by Ralf | October 21, 2011 at 5:07 PM

    CMBS group looking okay? I know CS's cmbs folks were blown out this week.

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