Dive Brief:

• UBS has replaced the CFO of its wealth management operations as part of its recent strategy overhaul, Reuters reported Thursday.

• The global bank announced in January it would be initiating a widespread cut of senior staff within its wealth management business, which is the world’s largest, with $2.6 trillion in assets. 

• The bank is initiating the revamp in an attempt to increase profits under the joint leadership of global wealth management president Tom Naratil and former Credit Suisse banker Iqbal Khan. Reuters said the bank is looking to lay off 500 executives total.

Dive Insight:

Markus Hubbel, global wealth management CFO for the bank’s Europe, Middle East and Africa region, was replaced Thursday, effective immediately, by Todd Tuckner, controller and chief accounting officer (CAO) at UBS. 

The news of the replacement comes from an internal memo at the bank, which Reuters reporters were able to track down (a spokesman confirmed the news).

Stepping in as CFO, Tuckner will relocate from the United States to Zurich, Switzerland, the bank’s headquarters, and “will report to four separate executives as he maintains his group wide, division and regional roles,” Reuters said. 

The internal memo, reportedly written by executives at the bank, referred to Tuckner as “a seasoned senior leader, change ambassador and controller,” and “coupled with his familiarity with our business, [he is] ideally positioned to support Iqbal, Tom and [COO] Sabine [Keller-Busse] in driving profitable growth in GWM and across EMEA,” the executives wrote in the memo. 

Representatives for UBS, Hubbel and Tuckner did not respond to CFO Dive’s requests for comment.