UBS released its 50-page report to the Swiss market regulator Monday (about the small matter of those $37bn asset writedowns), and seemed to be pointing the finger of blame at Huw Jenkins, its former investment bank CEO. Jenkins, still a consultant with the bank until October, was ousted late last year after the losses started to come to light. He is a decent bloke, much-respected by those who worked for him - but it looks like he is now being hung out to dry.

The report appears to paint a picture of Jenkins as ineffectual and distracted (he is accused of keeping chairman Marcel Ospel uniformed about the extent of the losses until August last year), and UBS blames its woes on bad risk management, a too-quick build-up in fixed income and a lack of appropriate management structure.

Soon after his appointment, Jenkins is said to have commissioned external consultants to looks at possible growth areas for his unit. The big gap in the franchise was identified as fixed income, and an ambitious 5 year growth plan is said to have resulted in a dash for revenues in this area. The problems the unit experienced are also said to have been exacerbated by the bank's (standard) bonus scheme, which encouraged traders to focus on short-term profits. The reports also points up the fact that Jenkins' main area of expertise was equities, and stresses that 'a senior risk manager in fixed income was not hired', also stating that 'it appears that the IB management did at no stage conduct a robust independent assessment of its overall subprime exposures. Consequently, group senior management relied on assurances of others rather then obtaining all of the facts and analytically reviewing the situation'.

Finally, Reuters reports that Bank of America's first-quarter profits came in 77% down at $1.21bn, after more than $5bn in writedowns and credit-related costs. CEO Ken Lewis said that 'these results clearly did not meet our expectations. The weakness in the economy and prolonged disruptions in the capital markets took their toll on our performance'. Lewis also told analysts in a conference call that it's still too soon to tell if the worse is behind us in the markets, saying that 'it would be too early to strike up the band and sing 'Happy Days Are Here Again'.

According to The Financial Times, Bank of America is looking to shore up its balance sheet by selling some of its 9% stake in China Construction Bank. The firm is also said to be in advanced talks with BNP Paribas about the sale of its equity prime brokerage unit.

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