After an agonizing descent, UBS pins all its brokerage hopes on Robert McCann. But only for so long…

• Thrust into a toxic environment teeming with huge credit losses and allegations of illicit banking practices, many industry insiders believe that McCann, the man tasked with the job of salvaging UBS’s debased U.S. brokerage unit, has a short amount of time to accomplish the tremendous task at hand.
• Industry executives believe that the magnitude of the meltdown will force UBS to sell its U.S. brokerage division, while others argue that it should be cut out of UBS and rebranded.
• McCann, former leader of Merrill Lynch’s renowned “Thundering Herd” of brokers, left Merrill Lynch while Bank of America was in the process of acquiring the firm and is said to be a capable leader and intelligent man.

Facts & Fiugres

• In 2008 and 2009, UBS revealed an astonishing $52 billion in credit losses, and was forced by regulators to redeem $22 billion in auction-rate securities (cash-like investments that become untradeable when markets seize up).
• Last summer, U.S. authorities accused UBS bankers of helping rich Americans hide money in Switzerland.
• UBS customers withdrew 20 billion Swiss francs in 2009, while the bank retained only 737 billion francs in client assets by the end of the year.
• About 1,100 brokers left the bank in 2009, leaving it with approximately 7,000 brokers on staff.

Best Quote

“The problem is not whether he can do it, but can he do it quickly enough to keep people in Zurich happy.” – Brad Hintz, Analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein