UBS Group has cut its Asia sustainability office headcount by more than half, reducing staff from seven to three in recent months, as part of a global restructuring effort [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]. The layoffs included three employees in Hong Kong, among them executive directors Esther Tsang and Fang Zhu and associate directors Samantha So in Hong Kong and Umadevi Dassaye in Singapore [1, 2, 3, 5].
The Asia-Pacific head of AI & Sustainable Markets Advisory Brendan Tu resigned on June 4 and will be replaced by Mathieu Brand, according to an internal memo [1, 3, 5]. Globally, UBS’s chief sustainability office staff has shrunk from over 100 employees in mid-2023 to about 35 by mid-2026 [1, 2, 3, 5].
The bank dismantled its Sustainability and Impact Institute team in December 2024, affecting around five employees [2, 3]. Its roughly 10-person ESG data team was reduced to a single staffer, with others reassigned internally [2, 3]. UBS also downsized its social impact and philanthropy function from about 150 employees before the Credit Suisse integration to approximately 86 after [2].
These reductions come amid a broader pullback by global banks from dedicated ESG strategies, driven by changing political and regulatory environments, particularly in the US [1, 2, 3, 5]. UBS exited the Net Zero Banking Alliance in 2025 alongside other major banks [1, 2, 5].
A UBS spokesperson said, “Our ambition to position UBS as a leader in sustainability remains unchanged. We are embedding sustainability across the group to strengthen delivery, enhance productivity, avoid duplication and support our clients and businesses at scale” [1, 2, 3].
UBS reported a 48% reduction in operational and power-related emissions in 2025 compared with a 2023 baseline, and reached its $1 billion charitable funding target benefiting over 26.5 million people [3].
The workforce reductions reflect shifting industry priorities, with peers like Goldman Sachs removing diversity targets from filings and others like HSBC pushing back emissions goals in 2025 [1, 2, 5]. UBS’s next key transitions include the ongoing leadership handover in Asia sustainability advisory following Brendan Tu’s departure earlier this month [1, 3, 5].
