Along with Smith Barney and Merrill Lynch, UBS was one of the originators of the protocol in 2004. UBS’s withdrawal “was only a matter of time,” said Richard Kronman, a Los Angeles-based recruiter who has a contract with UBS.
Other than for some “really exceptional situations, [UBS branch managers’] mandate is not recruiting” new people, he said. In fact, at recent managers meetings, “recruitment wasn’t even a discussion for them, which is unheard of.”