Marcel Ospel, the chairman of UBS, considered quitting after failing in his attempt to have his protégé Peter Wuffli, the chief executive, promoted, he told The Times yesterday.

Speaking after Mr Wuffli’s shock departure, announced in the middle of Thursday night, Mr Ospel said that he had considered going, too.

“I reflected what it could mean if I didn’t stay,” he said. “The bank has been very good to me . . . I thought it would be very bad if it lost both of us.”

Mr Ospel agreed to stay on for at least another three years as chairman after his failure to have Mr Wuffli elevated from chief executive to the chairmanship. Mr Ospel, who was promoted in this way in 2001, revealed that the other 11 directors all opposed him at a board meeting in Valencia. “It was me against the rest,” he said.

BACKGROUND

• Boardroom mutiny as a chairman is snubbed

• Wuffli goes as boardroom rift opens up at UBS

• UBS topples Goldman in half-time deals table

• Ospel nearly quits after protege not promoted

• Another top UBS banker quits

Silent UBS assassination augurs HSBC tie-up

On Thursday UBS announced another wrenching change, accompanied by another altogether improbable explanation

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Related Links

• Boardroom mutiny as a chairman is snubbed

• Wuffli goes as boardroom rift opens up at UBS

Mr Ospel underlined UBS’s commitment to maintain its existing strategy in the face of calls from some investors for a break-up. “This is the right direction going forward,” he said.

UBS shares rose by 60 cents to SwFr74.40 (£30.36) after it reassured investors that second-quarter profits would meet expectations. However, Mr Ospel did not rule out further losses after deciding to abandon the in-house hedge fund business Dillon Read Capital Management (DRCM).

DRCM lost SwFr150 million in the first quarter after adverse moves in US sub-prime mortgage investments. Mr Ospel said there would be “some positive and some negative swings” in the second quarter results on 14 August.

Vasco Moreno, analyst with Keefe Bruyette and Woods, said: “Wuffli was reasonably well-regarded, but he was always the person who implemented strategy. The one who decided on strategy has always been Ospel.”

Standard & Poor’s maintained its credit rating on the bank. Marcel Rohner, formerly head of the bank’s global wealth management division, was named as successor to Mr Wuffli.

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