UBS chairman made it clear bank would deny Orcel a payout if he jumped ship
By Jesús Aguado and Emma Pinedo
MADRID, Oct 20 (Reuters) - Axel Weber, the chairman of UBS , said in court on Wednesday he made it clear in September to his Santander counterpart, Ana Botin, that the bank would deny Andrea Orcel a payout if he quit to join the rival bank, showing the pivotal role Weber played in the high-stakes dispute.
Andrea Orcel, who was UBS's top investment banker at the time, is suing Santander for compensation in a Spanish court after the withdrawal of an offer to make him CEO because of disagreements over deferral payments he would lose.
Botin previously told a court in May she knew Weber's position but UBS's Chief Executive Officer at that time, Sergio Ermotti, had a different opinion. Any payout from UBS would have reduced the compensation Santander had to pay Orcel. UBS's official stance was not known until mid-November, Botin said. Ermotti has never publicly made his position clear and has not been called to give evidence.
Weber said on Wednesday that UBS strips any employee leaving voluntarily to join another financial institution of any deferral payments and he made the bank's position clear to Santander.
"On September 24 (of 2018) we took a final decision, it included that UBS would not pay compensation, that six months leave period would apply, and also included no doubt Santander qualified as financial services institution."
In January 2019, Santander said the bank could not meet Orcel's pay demands, which included covering up to 35 million euros ($41 million) of a 55 million euros compensation package he was due to receive in future years from UBS.
Asked on Wednesday if Ermotti was involved in the talks about payments that might be due to Orcel, Weber said that it was up to the Swiss bank's board to decide such matters.
Though the hearing is expected to be wrapped up on Wednesday, the ruling could take days or weeks to be released, two sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
Orcel, who has not been called to testify though he was present in court on Wednesday, originally sought as much as 112 million euros from Santander for breach of contract and damage to his career for the last minute U-turn.
But in May, he dropped the part of his legal claim that would require the Spanish bank to hire him after he was appointed CEO of Italy's UniCredit.
He also reduced his demand to 66-76 million euros, according to sources close to the matter, a court document and Santander's lawyer.
($1 = 0.8591 euros) (Reporting by Jesús Aguado and Emma Pinedo Editing by Mark Potter and Elaine Hardcastle)
