About

Since 2016, Emma Molvidson has served as the group managing director, chief of staff for the investment bank at UBS, taking on the role after being asked to do so by the group CEO and the president as they wanted to have a senior member of management transition from a “control function” to a management role in the business. Molvidson acts as deputy to the president of the investment bank globally, covering legal, compliance, audit and risk. She is responsible for the investment bank’s strategy, regulatory positioning, communication, culture and governance. She handles contentious and non-contentious regulatory matters which plays to her strength as a lawyer for over 20 years. She identifies that, ‘it allows me to look at situations from a business lens but with a general counsel background. I am able to also tackle the budget side as a true owner of a business and that side has been quite eye opening’. Before taking on this role, Molvidson was general counsel for the global investment bank for four years and in addition served as the cross divisional general counsel for Switzerland as well as EMEA. She was previously the deputy general counsel for asset management at UBS and has also served in a variety of senior management roles in the legal function at Swiss Re, the latest being general counsel for the asset management and corporate functions. Throughout her decorated career at UBS, Molvidson has deftly handled the heavy Investigatory portfolio and the fall out of the financial crisis. She and her team covered a lot of ground as LIBOR was wrapped up, and the FX investigation took its toll. Through it all, she maintained excellent legal support for the ongoing business across the globe and across all product lines, including her team, covering the non-core legacy book which was spun off the investment bank as part of its transformation in 2012. As chief of staff she still serves as the business interface on all investigatory matters for the investment bank globally. About her experience and leadership, Molvidson highlights that, ‘being a general counsel and chief of staff is so much more than understanding the law – it’s about judgement, relationships, courage and the ability to look at a problem from all angles and be able to forensically think through all the possible solutions to problems. I have been blessed in that I have always worked with people where I have been able to bring out the best in the legal profession and what we stand for as the gatekeepers of integrity’.