The oil fund approved the UBS chief’s annual salary worth NOK 173 million

The fund has not explained why it supported the submitted proposals.

The chairman defended the salary

UBS chairman Colm Kelleher, on the other hand, defended Ermotti’s salary by saying “he has the world’s most difficult job in the banking industry”, followed by “and he delivers!”, writes Handelszeitung.

Ermotti returned to the chairman’s chair at UBS on 5 April last year after the acquisition of the crisis-stricken bank Credit Suisse. Ermotti was also head of UBS from 2011 to 2020.

Within a few months, Ermotti was able to stabilize Credit Suisse – “and with it Switzerland as a financial centre”, also said chairman Kelleher.

Earlier this week, UBS simultaneously announced that the bank will cut 3,000 jobs at its branches, through five waves of layoffs this year.

Tangen with “wage spiral” criticism

The oil fund has given its thumbs up to Ermotti’s salary package, but the fund’s managing director, Nicolai Tangen, has previously come out strongly in the media and criticized the increasing salary spiral in the business world.

– If the shareholders do not become more strict about how they vote, this will only continue. We feel to a certain extent that the shareholders have not done their job in this area. We notice a change in mood among the major shareholders in the world towards more scrutiny and more demands for alignment, Tangen told the Financial Times back in 2022.

Environmental resistance

At the general meeting, UBS also received criticism for its environmental and climate targets, writes Handelszeitung.

The environmental organization Greenpeace criticized UBS’s cooperation with companies which they believe do not have business models that are compatible with the bank being able to achieve its zero emissions targets. An environmental activist from the Philippines also accused the bank of having contributed to the pollution of the environment in his home country, writes the newspaper.

However, the bank’s sustainability report was approved with an overwhelming majority of 93.4 per cent.