Wealth Management Crisis at UBS (A)

Paul M. Healy; George  Serafeim; David  Lane

Case | HBS Case Collection | March 2011 (Revised December 2019)

Wealth Management Crisis at UBS (A)

by Paul M. Healy, George Serafeim and David Lane

Abstract

The case describes the challenges that UBS faced as a result of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) investigation for tax fraud, that claimed that UBS had helped some 52,000 U.S. residents hide billions of dollars in untaxed assets in secret Swiss accounts between 2000 and 2007, depriving the U.S. Treasury of hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes. Why did this happen inside UBS? What were the incentives and the corporate governance failures that led to these events? How should the board of directors of UBS respond to the requests of the tax and regulatory authorities?

Keywords: fraud; regulatory enforcement; Reputation incentives; crony capitalism; tax havens; legitimacy; multinational; strategic change; incentives; transparency; financial services; Taxation; Crime and Corruption; Global Range; Asset Management; Ethics; Problems and Challenges; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Corporate Governance; Financial Services Industry; United States; Switzerland;

Language: English

Format: Print

18 pages

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Citation:

Healy, Paul M., George Serafeim, and David Lane. "Wealth Management Crisis at UBS (A)." Harvard Business School Case 111-082, March 2011. (Revised December 2019.)

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Keywords: oil ＆ gas; corruption; transparency; self-regulation; industry self-regulation; regulation; disclosure; disclosure regulation; Energy Sources; Crime and Corruption; Corporate Disclosure; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Energy Industry;