UBS IB Head Fires Former IB Head, Likely successor

UBS executive vice chair Ros L’Esperance to leave at month-end
March 30, 2026

Ros L’Esperance, one of UBS’s most senior investment bankers, will depart the Swiss bank at the end of the month, Reuters reported, citing an internal memo it reviewed.

According to the memo from Marco Valla, co-president of UBS’s Investment Bank and head of global banking, L’Esperance - executive vice chair of the Investment Bank — is leaving to pursue opportunities outside the firm.

Valla took over the top global banking role from L’Esperance in 2023.

After Valla joined UBS from Barclays that year, L’Esperance moved away from her position as co-head of global banking to concentrate on strategy and to set up a new advisory group for the bank’s most senior client-facing bankers.

L’Esperance joined UBS in 2014. Before that, she held the role of head of global corporate finance at Lehman Brothers, and later at Barclays after it bought Lehman’s North American investment banking and capital markets operations during the 2008 financial crisis.

In the memo, Valla described her as one of the most influential Wall Street bankers and said she was central to shaping UBS’s global banking business, also noting her focus on mentoring colleagues.

UBS declined to comment to Reuters, and L’Esperance was not immediately reachable, the report said.

Recently, UBS received approval for a national banking licence in the US, following confirmation from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

In a LinkedIn video statement, Rob Karofsky said: “This will strengthen our momentum in ​the US and it reinforces our ambition to lead as a premier global wealth ⁠manager.”

“We’re now going to go head-to-head with offering everyday banking,” he said.

The Swiss banking giant applied for a licence in October of last year.

"UBS executive vice chair Ros L’Esperance to leave at month-end" was originally created and published by Private Banker International, a GlobalData owned brand.