UBS CEO Gruebel Resigns

UBS(UBS) CEO Oswald Gruebel has resigned.

UBS' board has appointed Sergio P. Ermotti to be interim CEO, the bank said in a news release Saturday.The Zurich, Switzerland-based bank is reeling from an estimated $2.3 billion of losses caused by rogue trader Kweku Adoboli, who has been charged with fraud and false accounting. Critics have blamed the incident on weak risk management and oversight.In the news release, UBS Chairman Kaspar Villiger said that Gruebel resigned because he felt it was his duty to take responsibility for the rogue trading incident.But last weekend, Gruebel had dismissed calls for his resignation as politically motivated.Ermotti has been chief of the bank's Europe, Middle East and Africa unit.In the news release, the board said it will "fully support" the independent investigation into the rogue trading incident and will ensure steps are taken to prevent something similar from happening again.The board said it would continue its internal and external searches for a permanent CEO. Before the rogue-trading scandal, there was speculation that UBS was grooming Ermotti to succeed Gruebel. Shares of UBS closed Friday up 62 cents at $11.25. >To order reprints of this article, click here: Reprints