Peter Kurer's proposed successor as chairman of UBS, Kaspar Villiger, should know a thing or two about Swiss banking secrecy, an issue that has caused considerable friction with the US Government, which believes the bank is being used by clients for tax evasion purposes. As finance minister for the Swiss Federal Council, Villiger enacted some of the strictest legislation focused on rooting out money laundering in the world.

Villager, who will stand for election as Kurer's successor at the annual general meeting, was born February 5, 1941 in Pfeffikon in central Switzerland.