By Emma Thomasson
ZURICH (Reuters) - UBS (UBSN.CH)AG
Any action would only draw negative attention as UBS seeks a fresh start to win back client trust, the wealth management group said on Tuesday.
"The board has decided that years of uncertainty about these matters due to litigation ... and related negative attention from such action is not in the interest of UBS, its employees, clients and shareholders," the group said in a statement.
UBS said the board had decided not to take action after a thorough review, including consultation with external legal experts. It said its new management led by banking veteran Oswald Gruebel had taken "comprehensive and profound measures to ensure that nothing like this should ever happen again.
"The review concluded that there was no evidence of criminal conduct by former senior executives under Swiss law. Furthermore, there is no indication that they pursued personal interests to the detriment of UBS," it said.
Earlier this year, the world's No. 2 wealth manager, with $1.7 trillion in assets and the leader in the super-wealthy sector, appointed Gruebel as chief executive and Kaspar Villiger as new chairman to try to turn the page.
Public anger over UBS's problems has focused on former chairman Marcel Ospel, who quit in April 2008 after being blamed for the aggressive risk-taking strategy in the United States which brought the Swiss bank near to collapse.
Earlier this year, the Swiss Social Democrat party asked a judge to investigate whether Ospel and his successor as chairman Peter Kurer were aware of tax fraud on behalf of the banks' U.S. clients. Kurer, who was replaced by Villiger this April, dismissed the allegations as unfounded.
Ospel and other ex-board members agreed last year to return 33 million Swiss francs ($32 million) in payments from the bank after a media campaign against excessive bonuses, but UBS said the move should not be seen as an admission of guilt.
The other executives who returned payments were former Deputy Chairman Stephan Haeringer and former Chief Financial Officer Marco Suter.
Switzerland's flagship bank had to be rescued by the state last year after it made $52 billion writedowns in the subprime crisis and stood accused of helping rich Americans dodge taxes in a U.S. tax probe that has been settled.
UBS shares were up 0.8 percent at 15.92 Swiss francs at 5:15 a.m. EST, against a 1.1 percent weaker DJ Stoxx European banks index <.SX7P>.
(Editing by David Holmes)
