UBS may be considering Deutsche Bank chief executive Christian Sewing as a surprise successor to Sergio Ermotti.
According to a report by a Zurich financial blog, the rumour was circulating among investors, but neither UBS nor Deutsche Bank commented when approached. But why is Sewing being discussed?
Sewing has led Deutsche Bank since 2018 and is credited with stabilising the German lender after years of crisis. Before he became CEO, Deutsche Bank was widely viewed as one of Europe’s weakest major banks.
Sewing’s experience in retail and corporate banking, credit and risk management, investment banking and wealth management could make him an attractive external candidate for UBS. It described him as operating in the same league as UniCredit chief Andrea Orcel.
Succession Pressure At UBS
Notably, UBS’s board had originally planned for Ermotti to hand over leadership at the end of this year, but that transition has not happened.
Internal candidates previously discussed included wealth-management co-heads Iqbal Khan and Rob Karofsky, operations chief Beatriz Martin and asset-management head Aleksandar Ivanovic. Does the delay suggest dissatisfaction within the board about the internal field?
The speculation comes as UniCredit chief Andrea Orcel pushes ahead with a potential takeover of Commerzbank, Germany’s second-largest bank. Orcel previously ran UBS’s investment bank before leaving in 2018 after failing to become CEO.
Inside Paradeplatz suggested that hiring Sewing could be UBS’s response to that consolidation pressure. A Zurich banking insider quoted by the site said Sewing would be “a very good external solution”.
So what is confirmed? And what is not? Both banks declined to comment, and no offer, negotiation or appointment has been officially confirmed. Sewing remains Deutsche Bank’s CEO, and Ermotti remains UBS group chief executive.
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