Following the cut to Italy's rating, Standard & Poor's announced that it has also placed UBS's debt under observation in view of a possible downgrade. In this case the decision was largely predictable, given the recent woes of the Swiss Bank. The institute lost around 1,7 billion euros due to an unscrupulous London broker who carried out unauthorized trading operations.
Meanwhile, it seems that the CEO of UBS, Oswald Gruebel, intends to ask for a vote of confidence in the Board of Directors, which will meet in Singapore to decide on cuts to the investment banking division. Gruebel would like to manage the staff reduction himself and will probably ask to be confirmed until 2013.
