Sen. Phil Gramm has been at the Swiss banking giant, UBS since 2002. During that time, the bank has (like many banks/brokers) encountered some major losses. This fact may take on more importance as the US Presidential election draws near as Sen. Gramm has been touted as a possible Secretary of the Treasury in a McCain administration.

Quote:
Former Texas Sen. Phil Gramm has emerged as the key behind-the-scenes economics/Wall Street guy for John McCain and is being touted as the treasury secretary in waiting. Since 2002, Gramm has been an executive with the U.S. operations of UBS, the giant Swiss Bank. An unintentionally hilarious interview with Gramm on the Wall Street Journal editorial page last week asserted that Gramm has "been a key instigator of some of the biggest money-making UBS deals of recent years." The interview was noteworthy not just for first-class butt-kissing, but for deliberately gliding over the avalanche of disasters in the past year that has turned UBS from a respected Swiss titan of discretion and risk management into a laughing stock.
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UBS used to stand for Union Bank of Switzerland. But perhaps it should stand for Untold Billions Squandered.

Here is a link to the entire article, which article has many links to other informative articles as well: http://www.slate.com/id/2194933/

Michael