UBS moved to put recent US troubles further behind it by promoting a 26-year veteran of the Swiss bank as chief executive of its Americas business. UBS said on Friday Philip Lofts will take over as head of UBS Group Americas. He will be succeeded as group chief risk officer by Maureen Miskovic on January 1.
Lofts, 48, has been at UBS since 1984, when the British banker started as a credit analyst in London. He has been chief risk officer since November 2008, and before that had senior positions for the investment bank in the United States and Asia. UBS, Europe's largest wealth manager by assets, lost billions of dollars on toxic US subprime products and has been embroiled in a damaging tax-evasion row. It lost market share to rivals less hurt during the crisis and is now attempting to win it back. Some 37 percent of UBS's employees are in the Americas, and the United States is the largest market for wealth management and investment banking fees.