Annual General Meeting in the ticker Ermotti's salary is approved by the UBS AGM +++ Shareholder: "Salaries should finally be limited"

UBS is in the crossfire of criticism. The background to this is the high compensation paid to CEO Sergio Ermotti. blue News tickers the shareholders' meeting live from Lucerne.

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1.24 p.m.

Annual General Meeting closed

All items on the agenda have now been dealt with. UBS Chairman Colm Kelleher closes the AGM and bids farewell to Markus Baumann, who is retiring after 46 years of service to UBS.

This also marks the end of blue News' live ticker. A detailed summary will follow here shortly. Thank you for reading and goodbye.

1.22 p.m.

New share buyback program

UBS wants to buy back shares worth around 3.5 billion dollars this year and next. This has caused a lot of criticism in advance. Nevertheless, the program is waved through. 93.5 percent of shareholders approve the proposal.

1.19 p.m.

Approval of the maximum remuneration

The Board of Directors is to receive a maximum total of CHF 15 million for its activities in 2025. The Group Executive Board is to receive a maximum bonus of 32 million francs.

A small shareholder expresses criticism. He compares the bonuses with the salaries of the Federal Council. However, he has no chance with his vote: The proposals are clearly adopted.

12.58 p.m.

Board of Directors is re-elected

The Board of Directors is re-elected. Two people did not stand for re-election. They are replaced by Renata Jungo Brüngger and Lila Tretikov. The vote for Jungo Brünnger is conspicuously low.

12.49 p.m.

Discharge clearly granted

The next item on the agenda is the discharge of the Board of Directors and the Executive Board. Without such a discharge, lawsuits could theoretically be filed in connection with the business activities. At CS, such discharge has repeatedly not been granted in recent decades. The situation is different at UBS. Over 96 percent of shareholders say yes to the discharge.

12.45 p.m.

Dividend clearly approved

The dividend proposal is also passed. Shareholders vote 99 percent in favor of the dividend of around 75 centimes per share. This is despite criticism from the shareholders present. However, compared to the major investors, these are only a tiny fraction of all shareholders and have no chance.

12.35 p.m.

Annual report, remuneration and sustainability waved through

All three proposals of the Board of Directors are waved through. At 86.7 percent, the remuneration receives a rather low level of approval - although approval is higher than last year, when it was around 83 percent.

12.30 p.m.

The voting procedure is now explained

This concludes the discussion on the first points. Markus Baumann now explains the voting procedure.

12.28 p.m.

Employees should travel in an environmentally friendly way

A shareholder has several questions for UBS. These concern the issue of sustainability and, of course, salaries. The shareholder says he is conflicted. "If Ermotti waives his salary and this is paid out to us, we wouldn't even be able to measure it in centimes." At the same time, however, there is also the question of whether such a high salary is not a false incentive.

Kelleher says that a certain sustainability policy has been introduced in the company. For example, employees should also travel as environmentally friendly as possible internally. In addition, electricity is to be generated exclusively from renewable energies in future, the UBS Chairman explains.

12.13 p.m.

Sustainability is also a topic

The series continues. Various shareholders speak on different topics. People from the Far East, such as the Philippines, have also arrived. They talk about how UBS is destroying the environment with its investments and investing too little in sustainability. Too much fossil energy, such as oil or gas, is being extracted.

11.48 a.m.

Various shareholders come forward

Various small shareholders now come forward. This time it's about brass band music and the appeal to financially support the 2026 Federal Brass Band Festival. Sergio Ermotti replies with a smile on his face that he can be emailed at sergio.ermotti@ubs.ch.

A second shareholder also got in touch, appearing rather belligerent. Credit Suisse has ruined Mozambique, he says, quoting various songs he has written himself. There are whistles in the hall. "Shut your mouth back there" and "You're only interested in money," says the shareholder.

There is not much applause for the shareholders. Many express their own opinions, are frustrated and angry.

11.33 a.m.

Shareholder demands: Maximum 2 million salary

"I see UBS as a risk," says shareholder Albert Albrecht. "The downfall of CS has shown how quickly things can go. UBS doesn't want any more reserves either and is paying out far too high salaries and bonuses to top management." A rescue by the state is impossible. It is worrying that a share buyback program is now being launched, which will cause equity to shrink.

UBS is charging fees that were not previously charged at CS. "I didn't agree to any changes, you have to ask yourself whether this isn't a breach of contract."

"Salaries and bonuses for top management should be set at CHF 2 million," Albrecht demands.

11.28 a.m.

Ethos wants to reject remuneration

Now the representative of Ethos speaks. The shareholders' association is recommending that shareholders reject the remuneration, the share buyback program and the sustainability report. This was already known in advance. "It is essential that the mistakes of the past are not repeated," he says.

It was therefore expected that excessive remuneration would be restricted in order to avoid creating false incentives. "We are calling for the remuneration policy to be adjusted."

UBS must act responsibly and not simply become bigger "We have the feeling that work is currently being done in the wrong direction."

11.18 a.m.

"The workload is high"

"Employees are going many extra miles, the workload is high," explains the UBS staff representative. "That worries us a lot." Integration takes time and patience to create a "sense of togetherness". The employees of the former Credit Suisse and UBS are already working well together in many areas. "Nevertheless, the teams will not grow together overnight."

11.09 a.m.

Kelleher presents agenda items - remuneration also becomes an issue

Kelleher says that remuneration continues to make the headlines. Salaries in particular are always a talking point. Kelleher explains that the Board of Directors always takes several factors into account: "Under his leadership, we have reached 4,000 migration milestones and achieved almost 60 percent of our savings target of CHF 13 billion."

11.07 a.m.

Small stumbling block with the figures

Board member Markus Baumann presents the distribution of votes. This results in a confusion of figures. A single independent proxy now represents almost 2 billion votes. However, Baumann has to start twice to read out the figure correctly. There is laughter in the hall, and Chairman Kelleher also says afterwards: "Well done!"

10.50 a.m.

Now Ermotti takes over

Sergio Ermotti takes the microphone. He also mentions the most important figures once again. UBS achieved a net profit of CHF 5.1 billion last year. The global business is not always running smoothly, he says, and this is mainly due to current political events. "We have seen this in the last few days," says Ermotti.

This year, UBS intends to transfer all remaining CS accounts in Switzerland to UBS. This involves over one million clients. "It is the largest volume of data that has ever been migrated in a bank takeover," says Ermotti.

10.40 a.m.

"Switzerland's financial sector is the envy of the world"

Around a third of Swiss households have an account with UBS, says Kelleher. "Switzerland's financial sector is the envy of the world," said the UBS Chairman at the start of the Annual General Meeting. The downfall of Credit Suisse was due to mismanagement, which is not the case at UBS.

10.38 a.m.

"The salary is too high"

A shareholder says that Ermotti's salary is too high - no matter how much you make. He hopes for answers today, he says in an interview with blue News.

10.30 a.m.

Here we go

UBS Chairman Colm Kelleher opens the Annual General Meeting. He goes through the most important figures of the past year once again. The takeover of Credit Suisse is progressing well and the majority of accounts have already been migrated.

10.26 a.m.

"I'm not hoping for anything"

This is what one shareholder says in an interview with blue News. "It's the same every year, even when it comes to salaries"

10.17 am

"Head of UBS is an important position"

A local company representative is also relaxed about Ermotti's salary. "A lot is earned in the entertainment industry too, but less is said about it," he says.

10.01 a.m.

Shareholder takes a relaxed view of Ermotti's salary

One shareholder is relaxed about Ermotti's salary. "We are here to make money," he tells blue News. "If the CEO is doing the company well, his salary is justified." On the current turmoil surrounding US President Donald Trump's tariffs, he says. "It's more exciting than ever at the moment. America had to draw attention to itself." For him, this is not the first time that the stock markets have experienced such turbulence. "I take a relaxed view of it."

9.44 am

Protests in the run-up

An alliance of climate and human rights organizations is protesting today outside the venue of the UBS Annual General Meeting, Messe Lucerne. However, the protest is not about Ermotti's salary, but about the planned construction of two new gas-fired power plants by the company San Miguel. According to the activists, UBS is one of the world's largest investors in San Miguel's power plant division.

9.30 a.m.

A warm welcome

Sergio Ermotti's salary is likely to be the main topic of discussion at today's UBS Annual General Meeting. The CEO will receive 14.9 million for the past year. Politicians were shocked by the amount of the salary in advance.

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In 2024, UBS CEO Sergio Ermotti received remuneration of CHF 14.9 million. This is slightly more than in the previous year, but less than some had expected. There had been talk of over 20 million in advance.

Nevertheless, the high remuneration is causing criticism. The shareholder association Ethos is recommending that shareholders reject the remuneration, the share buyback program and the sustainability report.

"The remuneration of UBS's executive bodies is too high compared to European financial institutions." Ethos recognizes that the bank has not further increased the remuneration of CEO Sergio Ermotti for 2024 compared to 2023. Nevertheless, the salary remains one of the highest in Switzerland and Europe.

Another criticism is that the variable remuneration of members of the Executive Board can amount to a maximum of seven times the basic salary. This potentially leads to excessive remuneration. "Such high payments and the very high leverage for variable remuneration can encourage excessive risk-taking, as the financial crisis of 2008 or the recent collapse of Credit Suisse have shown", Ethos Director Vincent Kaufmann is quoted as saying in the press release. This is not in the interests of long-term shareholders.

What are the reactions at the Annual General Meeting? blue News is on site at Messe Luzern and is providing live tickers.