UBS on Tuesday confirmed Swiss-national Sergio Ermotti as permanent CEO with immediate effect.

The appointment comes just two months after Ermotti was named interim CEO when Oswald Grübel stepped down in September following an alleged $2.3bn rogue trading incident at the bank.

The group announced that chairman Kaspar Villiger will stand aside a year earlier than planned at the annual shareholders' meeting in May 2012. Former Bundesbank president Axel Weber will take over the role.

The move by UBS comes just two days before a key meeting in New York where the group is expected to tell investors it plans to decrease its investment banking and focus more on asset management.

Speaking of the forthcoming meeting, Ermotti said: “The strategy will be centred on our leading wealth management businesses and our position as the strongest universal bank in Switzerland. A focused, less complex and less capital-intensive investment bank and our asset management business are also key elements for growing our wealth management franchise.”