Financial giant UBS officials refuse salary

As a number of American banks resist calls to rein in executive pay, the unthinkable is happening — at least in Switzerland, where three former officials of UBS, the troubled Swiss financial giant, said that they would forgo more than $27 million in compensation.

Marcel Ospel, the former chairman of the board at the Swiss bank, and Stephan Haeringer and Marco Suter, two former directors, said they would give up pay promised them after the bank reported nearly $50 billion in losses and received even more than that in financial support from the Swiss government.

“With the involvement of the Swiss government, I realized that decisive action was required on my part,” Ospel said in a statement. “I hope that my action will help to resolve a situation that was inconceivable to me until a short time ago,” he said.

Ospel will contribute more than twothirds of the total; the balance will be paid by Haeringer and Suter.

In response, UBS issued a very brief statement: “We welcome the decision.” As indeed UBS might. The former UBS executives had been the focus of intense public criticism after the bank reported stunning losses on devastating subprimerelated investments.

This month, the bank announced that its chairman, Peter Kurer; its chief executive, Marcel Rohner; and members of its executive board would also have a bonus-free 2008.

Source: NYT News Service