How a 31 year old crashed one of the world's great banking giants

Late on September 23 afternoon, as Formula One teams readied their cars for a practice session ahead of the Singapore Grand Prix, the entrance hall of the nearby Ritz-Carlton buzzed with activity.

One by one, senior executives of Swiss bank UBS entered the lobby, which is designed by Pritzker-winning architect Kevin Roche and features a soaring glass ceiling, and made their way to the gold-coloured lifts that whisk guests up to rooms that overlook the Marina Bay street circuit.

As the bankers sped past works of art by the likes of Henry Moore, David Hockney and Frank Stella, some made their way straight to a lounge UBS had hired to entertain clients during the race weekend.

At its entrance stood three Singaporean women wearing red and white polo shirts, each holding a sign emblazoned with the UBS logo and the slogan "Welcome, the race starts here".

For UBS chief Oswald Gruebel - and perhaps for UBS as it is currently constituted - it was more like the end of the road...

Image: UBS Chairman of the Board of Directors Kaspar Villiger, right, with an unidentified associate leaves the UBS office in Singapore after a meeting of the bank's board and senior executives.

Text: Emma Thomasson and Edward Taylor, Reuters

AP Images