Swiss banking giant UBS AG today announced that its board of directors will propose slashing directors’ terms to just one year from three years, in a measure designed to improve governance.

The proposal will be tabled at the bank’s annual general meeting on April 23. It will require that new or re-elected members of the board are appointed for a one-year term only.

The same regulation will apply to all board members who subsequently stand for re-election after the expiration of their terms of office. As a result, by 2010 at the latest, the entire board of directors of UBS will be confirmed on a yearly basis by the AGM.

The board has also appointed Sergio Marchionne as a non-executive vice chairman. “With these moves we have strengthened the leadership structure in order to manage UBS’s current challenges,” said Marcel Ospel, chairman of UBS. “I proposed the new tenure rule to the board, and am prepared, pursuant to their request, to stand for re-election for one year.”