Biz people

UBS: Ospel won't quit after a year

Switzerland's UBS denied a newspaper report that its Chairman Marcel Ospel (below right) would definitely leave after another year at the helm, but reiterated that his future after this period was undecided.

On Thursday, UBS proposed reelecting Ospel despite his presiding over $18 billion in subprime writedowns, but said it would reduce his term of office to one year.

UBS spokesman Christoph Meier said Ospel had agreed to stand for re-election for another year and said "beyond that he has no further plans", repeating an earlier statement.

But that did not necessarily mean its veteran chairman would leave the group after that period, Meier said.

Swiss newspaper Sonntag had said Ospel would stay for another year "at most" and that he might leave even earlier if a successor was found sooner.

UBS will ask for approval for a 13 billion Swiss francs ($11.94 billion) capital injection at an extraordinary shareholder meeting tomorrow. The group will discuss the board changes at its annual meeting in April.

Ospel has come under intense pressure after the bank's heavy subprime writedowns of last year, and UBS shocked investors again this month tens of billions of dollars in new exposure to risky US mortgages and other securities.

UBS said last week the board had appointed Fiat Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne as non-executive vice-chairman, sparking speculation Ospel could soon hand over the reins at UBS to him.

GM's Lutz stands by his remarks

General Motors Corp Vice-Chairman Bob Lutz (right) has defended remarks he made dismissing global warming as a "total crock of shit," saying his views had no bearing on GM's commitment to build environmentally friendly vehicles.

Lutz, GM's outspoken product development chief, has been under fire from Internet bloggers since last month when he was quoted as making the remark to reporters in Texas.

In a posting on his GM blog, Lutz said those "spewing virtual vitriol" at him for minimizing the threat of climate change were "missing the big picture".

"What they should be doing in earnest is forming opinions, not about me but about GM and what this company is doing that is... hugely beneficial to the causes they so enthusiastically claim to support," he said in a posting titled, "Talk About a Crock."

GM, the largest US automaker by sales and market share, has been trying to change its image after taking years of heat for relying too much on sales of large sport-utility vehicles like the Hummer and not moving faster on fuel-saving hybrid technology.

"My thoughts on what has or hasn't been the cause of climate change have nothing to do with the decisions I make to advance the cause of General Motors," he wrote.

(China Daily 02/26/2008 page16)