Kaspar Villiger is not scheduled to step down as Chairman of UBS until 2013, but that didn't stopped Switzerland's largest bank from selecting his successor.  Axel A. Weber, a former president of the German central bank was selected to become UBS AG's next chairman.  But first, Mr. Weber will join UBS’s board as a non-independent vice chairman in 2012, then become chairman a year later.  All of this is subject to a shareholder vote on 5/3/12. 

[C-I Note:   One of 3 possibilities.  First, Mr. Weber will be made UBS Chairman (much) earlier than the announced 2013 start date.  Alternatively, the bank is trying to counter all the bad press and publicity it's received this past year - defection of investment bankers, like rats scurrying out of a sinking ship;  the release of private client information as settlement in the IRS tax fraud case.  In any event, the timing is quite unusual.  Third, Mr. Weber has been named as a possible candidate for the Deutsche Bank job - this appointment would appear to short circuit that option - see below for more information.]

Mr. Weber was a candidate to replace Jean-Claude Trichet as president of the European Central Bank before he withdrew from the race in February after making some controversial comments about monetary policy.  He also resigned from the Bundesbank, the German central bank, saying he would return to academia.  Before becoming a central banker, Mr. Weber had worked as an economics professor at universities in Germany.  ‘‘Being able to help shape the bank’s future is an attractive prospect,’’ he said in the statement.

Mr. Weber, 54, was also seen as a potential candidate to take the top job at Deutsche Bank, once the contract of current CEO Josef Ackermann ran out in 2013. 

UBS’s chief executive, Oswal J. Grübel, is still trying to repair a bank that was one of the hardest hit  in Europe during the financial  crisis. Its role in a recent legal case over tax evasion by some of its American clients had also hurt the reputation of its wealth management operation.

Some analysts have said previously that it is unclear how long Mr. Grübel would stay at UBS. Mr. Grübel, a 67-year old former CEO executive of Credit Suisse, came out of retirement to help turn UBS around in 2009.  Mr. Grübel cut jobs, shrank the balance sheet and strengthened the private banking operations but said earlier this year that the investment banking unit’s performance was still not satisfactory. UBS  posted a annual profit in 2010, its first since before the financial crisis.  [DealBook, 7/1/11]