Orcel Considers Starting a Boutique, Risking Millions of His UBS Pay

(Bloomberg) -- Andrea Orcel has spent his career leading some of the world’s biggest investment banks. Now he may strike out on his own.

Orcel is considering starting a boutique investment bank, one of a range of options that may force him to give up tens of millions in deferred pay from his former employer, UBS Group AG, according to people with knowledge of his conversations. He isn’t close to a decision, the people said, but has held informal talks with boutique investment banks and large rivals to UBS on both sides of the Atlantic, as well as Silicon Valley technology firms.

A spokesman for Orcel declined to comment on his career plans.

A star dealmaker in Europe who took over UBS’s investment bank in 2012, Orcel left the Swiss firm in September to become chief executive officer of Banco Santander SA. That job offer was later rescinded in a dispute over pay and $50 million of deferred compensation from UBS -- and he still risks losing some of that money if he joins a banking rival. UBS believes it wouldn’t have to make the payments if Orcel joins any financial-services competitor, Bloomberg reported in January.

Orcel, who’s also held leadership positions at Merrill Lynch & Co. and Bank of America Corp., has retained Spanish lawyers to advise him about Santander’s about-face. He’s treating his issues with Santander as separate from his career planning, according to people who have spoken with him.

--With assistance from Harry Wilson.

To contact the reporters on this story: Sonali Basak in New York at sbasak7@bloomberg.net;Dinesh Nair in London at dnair5@bloomberg.net;Thomas Beardsworth in London at tbeardsworth@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Michael J. Moore at mmoore55@bloomberg.net, Daniel Taub, Dan Reichl

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