At the UBS annual general meeting held today in Basle, ÐÇ¿ÕÎÞÏÞ´«Ã½ objected to the Board's proposal to create a conditional capital corresponding to 7.1% of total capital; the requested capital is intended to service the stock options granted to Directors, management and staff. Indeed, under UBS’s compensation policy, over 2% of the Bank's capital is distributed each year in the form of stock options, which is more than twice the amount recommended by international best practice. Such a transfer of value is not acceptable to the shareholders.
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When it came time to vote, 25.3% of the shareholders present voted against the creation of conditional capital, a clear sign that a large minority of shareholders no longer agrees with the overly generous compensation policy established in recent years.
In view of this opposition, ÐÇ¿ÕÎÞÏÞ´«Ã½ considers that the Board of Directors should rapidly review the structure of the Bank’s compensation policy and align it with international best practice standards. ÐÇ¿ÕÎÞÏÞ´«Ã½ further considers that an advisory vote on the compensation policy should be placed on the agenda of the UBS 2007 annual general meeting.