Hot Features
Premium
Trade like a pro: Leverage real-time discussions and market-moving ideas to outperform.
That’s right. UBS is “too arrogant” and “corrupted.” Hold on now. We didn’t say that (yet). It was UBS CEO Andrea Orcel who said that UBS and other major banks have been “too arrogant.” The other was that financial guru, the Archbishop of Canterbury, who called the bank a “corrupted” organization. Wow! What a surprise!
The comments from both gentlemen are irrefutably true and come as UBS executives faced the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards to answer for their part in the Libor scandal. Andrew Tyrie, the Commission Chairman, described the UBS role in the Libor rigging as “a shocker of enormous proportions” and declared that the claims of ignorance on the part of UBS executives proves that they must be “incompetent.”
Tyrie went on to say that “It was not just a problem of a few rogue traders. It was a problem of your management structure.” Underscoring Tyrie’s comments and offering astute insight into what still, in this writer’s opinion, is a continuing cover-up of the underwater part of the iceberg, former Chancellor Nigel Lawson asked, “How many of the sacked traders have you named so any other bank would know? Or do you discreetly let them go so they can discreetly take their crookery elsewhere?”
Orcel responded that “All the people who are guilty will be sacked. We don’t let them go discretely. We are taking it head on.” (Emphasis mine)
Archbishop, what have you got to say? “UBS is a corrupted organization.”
Thank you, sir. Having fired only 18 of the 40 UBS employees involved in the scandal, some are still working at the bank. This illegal activity went on through 2010. We are now nine days into 2013 and some of the “corrupted” people are still working at the bank? Are you kidding me? This is just like what Hilary Clinton told the world about “firing” US State Department people who had been involved in the Benghazi scandal. She said that one high-ranking official had resigned his post and implied that others would follow. In reality, the official resigned from only one of his positions in the department whilst the others were sent home on paid leave.
Neither situation is honestly dealing with the problem. It is continued cover up.
The recurring theme of “It wasn’t just us. It was the whole banking industry,” doesn’t provide the cover and damage control that Orcel and others would like to think it does. It almost spotlights Tyrie’s assessment of incompetence. And it most certainly does not clear the bank of the cancer within. It leaves the cancerous element there with opportunity to reshape itself.
Orcel’s statement that, “It’s a journey where the whole executive board and board are very focused at recovering the honour and the standing that the organisation had in the past,” misses the point completely. This is not about recovering honour. This is about repenting of wrongdoing, punishing the wrongdoers, giving restitution, and paying the piper. We don’t care about your honour. We care about your integrity. And we certainly hope that somewhere in the ashes of your “once honourable organization” you can find a small piece of discarded integrity to build upon.
Frankly, Mr. Orcel, you disappointed us when you said, “I would love to tell you it won’t happen again, but I can’t tell you it won’t happen again.” It would have been much more palatable to have heard you say “I would love to tell you it won’t happen again, and I assure you that it will not happen as long as I am CEO.”
