He finished his education with a degree of Doctor of Law from the University of Zurich. After gaining some practical experience in a small law firm, he worked from 1968 to 1972 for the Winterthur Insurance in Switzerland and in France in the sector of product development.

He joined the Union Bank of Switzerland in 1972 where he held management positions in capital markets, corporate finance and controlling. In 1988 he was promoted to the Group Executive Board of Union Bank of Switzerland where he was in particular responsible for Investment Banking and from 1994 onward for Logistics (Human Resources, IT, Operations). He directed all legal, contractual and regulatory work for the merger of UBS and SBC to UBS Inc. With the formal conclusion of the merger he left the bank.

From 1998 to 1999 he was a special delegate of the Swiss government responsible for all measures and preparations in light of the Y2K-problem. Since 2000 he is an independent member of some Boards of Directors.

Since 2001 he acts as Chairman of the Board of the Swiss Social Security Fund.

See also: 04.30 pm 'Are derivatives potential tools of mass destruction?' – the discussion