ZURICH (Reuters) – UBS has appointed Australian financial executive Gail Kelly to its board of directors, the Swiss bank said on Friday, highlighting her experience in bank mergers.
This appointment could prove useful for UBS, in the process of integrating Credit Suisse after its takeover last year, and could also support its growth plans in the Asia-Pacific region.
Gail Kelly, who served as UBS’s senior global advisor from 2016 to 2023, was previously chief executive of St George Bank and Westpac Bank Corporation in Australia.
During her tenure, she led the merger of the two banks in 2008, the largest financial services merger in Australia, UBS recalled. “Gail is one of the most influential voices in the Asia Pacific financial industry and a recognized leader. She has an exceptional reputation and is recognized as an excellent bank CEO who successfully completed a merger,” said said Colm Kelleher, Chairman of the Board of Directors of UBS, in a statement.
His merger experience could help UBS, which completed an emergency takeover of Credit Suisse in June, integrate the two banks and steer the organization of a banking giant that now oversees more than $5,000 billion (4,561 billion euros) in assets.
USB is working to recover from the exodus of Credit Suisse clients, while combining the workforces and cultures of the two companies. Job cuts, including 3,000 for Switzerland, are planned.
Gail Kelly’s appointment is the latest change at UBS, where activist investor Cevian took a 1.3% stake in December. Cevian said at the time that it was not seeking a board seat, and Gail Kelly is not related to Cevian.
UBS also announced Friday that its longest-serving director, Dieter Wemmer, had decided to step down after eight years on the board.
(Reporting John Revill; French version Stéphanie Hamel, edited by Blandine Hénault)
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