UBS's Parent Warns of Big Losses, Staff Cuts

The Zurich, Switzerland-based corporate parent of Wall Street firm UBS has warned that it likely will take several hundreds of millions of dollars in pretax losses and has senior management changes and severe staff cuts in the works, primarily due to U.S. subprime mortgage market woes.The firm estimated that its writedowns for the quarter ending Sept. 30 will total between 600 million Swiss francs (about $513 million) and 800 million Swiss francs (about $685 million). The reorganization, which centers on the investment bank unit, includes cost reductions estimated to cut staff by 1,500 by the end of the year. Senior management changes include group chief executive officer Marcel Rohner's assumption ("for the foreseeable future") of the position of investment bank chairman and chief executive Huw Jenkins.