UBS Names McCann to Lead Americas Unit

ZURICH, Switzerland (TheStreet) -- Swiss bank UBS(UBS) has named Robert McCann to lead its domestic wealth management businesses in the United States and Canada.

McCann was the former chief of Merrill Lynch's brokerage division. He left the firm in January when it was acquired by Bank of America(BAC).

Just last month, McCann took BofA to court over the bank's efforts to prevent him from joining rival UBS. McCann claimed in court that he was fired from BofA after it bought Merrill Lynch in January, leaving him free to begin working at a rival firm six months later. But Bank of America was trying to make him wait until the end of January, when it said his noncompete agreement ends.

"Coming to UBS is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to join a leading global wealth manager. It is a firm that I always considered to be a tough competitor and I will add my energy and ideas to the turnaround underway," McCann said in a statement Tuesday.

McCann also will be in charge of all international business booked in the U.S.

The operation he will lead has about 8,000 financial advisors and manages assets of 695 billion Swiss francs ($682.9 billion), UBS said.

-- Reported by Joseph Woelfel in New York .

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