UBS' newly-picked chairman, former mergers-advisory lawyer Peter Kurer, likes to compare deal assignments with hockey players' shifts on the ice, telling associates: "You have 45 seconds to do the job."

Now, Kurer also will face time pressure, and his deal experience will be critical. UBS's top in-house lawyer, Kurer will help set the direction of UBS' investment bank. UBS is among the hardest-hit banks in the world from the credit crisis. As write-downs mount, some shareholders are leaning on the bank to split off its investment banking division from its more stable and traditional asset and wealth management arms.