Swiss Re today announced the departure of three board members, among them a former central banker and an ex-UBS boss.
Mathis Cabiallavetta and Jean-Pierre Roth both are prominent members of the Swiss financial community, one as a former boss of UBS, the country's biggest bank, the other as president of the central bank. Both will now stand down as member of the board at the country's biggest reinsurer, Zurich-based Swiss Re, the company said in a statement today.
Roth, who has had a distinguished career as head of the Swiss National Bank, was elected to the board of Swiss Re in 2010. It was during his tenure as president of the central bank that UBS was prevented from going bankrupt because the government deemed that this would have had serious consequences for Switzerland's economic wellbeing.
Well-Paid Board Member
Cabiallavetta has a much more colorful past. In October 1998, he had to step down as president of UBS after the bank incurred losses of 950 million francs because of its involvement in LTCM, a U.S. hedge fund. At Swiss Re, where the banker was able to restore his reputation as vice chairman, he nevertheless also attracted criticism because of the size of his compensation. «Tages-Anzeiger» last year said Cabiallavetta had earned a total of 16.1 million francs between 2008 and 2015.
U.K. Central Banker
The manager remains member of the board of Blackrock, the world's biggest asset manager. The third member of Swiss Re's board not to stand for reelection on April 22, 2016, is Hans Ulrich Maerki, member of the board since 2007.
Swiss Re has found another prominent banker as replacement for the departing members: Sir Paul Tucker (pictured below). He was a deputy governor at the Bank of England, member of its monetary policy committee and member of the steering committee of the G20 financial stability board. He also served on the board of the Bank for International Settlements.
Dividend, Share Buy-Back
Swiss Re will propose to raise the dividend by 8.2 percent to 4.60 francs per share. The board also asks for the authorization to its announced share buy-back program worth as much as 1 billion francs.
