Former UBS Chairman Peter Kurer is back: he has been nominated to take responsibility at a major telecommunications company in Switzerland.
The company who plans to bring Peter Kurer back is Sunrise Communications, one of the three big Swiss telecommunications operators. It nominated Kurer as chairman of the board, taking over from Lorne Somerville, Sunrise said in a statement today.
The choice of Kurer is part of a major revamp at the top of the Sunrise. CEO Libor Voncina will step down in the second quarter of 2016 and hand over to Olaf Swantee. The Swiss telecommunications market is dominated by Swisscom, which used to run the state monopoly. Its main competitors are struggling to keep pace in a market, which is less price-sensitive as other European markets.
Used to Choppy Waters
Kurer's return comes as a surprise. He had resigned as chairman of UBS in 2009, shortly before the bank negotiated an agreement with the U.S. tax authorities, ending a potentially fatal conflict by agreeing to deliver information about its customers and by paying a fine of $780 million.
The lawyer was chairman for one year only, arguably the most turbulent and difficult of its history. He had taken over from Marcel Ospel, who had stepped down following the huge losses incurred in the U.S. mortgage market.
In the autumn of 2008, the Swiss National Bank injected 68 billion francs into UBS to prevent the bank from going bankrupt, which would have badly shaken the Swiss economy.
UBS, Swissair, Sunrise
Kurer is also remembered as a lawyer at Homburger law firm, working for Swissair during the time of its collapse. He later joined UBS, who was the bank of choice for Switzerland's flag carrying airline.
Since stepping down at UBS, Kurer hasn't been in the limelight as often as he used to be. In an interview with Swiss Television SRF, he acknowledge to have made mistakes. Kurer has also written a book about legal risks and penned articles for finews.ch.
The 67-year-old lawyer works as a consultant for BLR Partners.
