UBS Rating Bankers’ Behavior In Performance Reviews, Sources Say

The Swiss bank UBS AG has begun scoring employees specifically on their behavior, meaning year-end bonuses could be affected by whether they act ethically or are team players, two sources familiar with the policy said Monday. UBS, Switzerland’s biggest bank with about 60,000 employees worldwide, started last year giving staff a grade of one to five on their behavior, the criteria for which include integrity and collaboration.

Behavior counts for around 30 percent of employees’ performance reviews, which also reflect the overall quality of work and form the basis of bonus rewards.

The previous two years, behavior was a factor in the reviews but employees were not given a separate score for it.

UBS has forked out billions of dollars in recent years to settle charges in a string of scandals, including manipulation of benchmark interest and foreign-exchange rates as well as aiding tax evasion by U.S. clients. The bank also suffered a more than $2 billion hit from a rogue trading scandal in 2011.

The new review format was first reported by Swiss finance blog Inside Paradeplatz.

Reuters reported last week that UBS was looking at the relative pay of men and women in its investment banking arm as part of its compensation review, and was taking steps to close any significant gaps.

UBS is also freezing pay across its investment bank, pending a review in the second quarter of the year, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters last week.