Swiss banking giant UBS AG today announced a likely third-quarter loss, and a management shakeup, as it was hit by sub-prime woes.

UBS said that following a write down of positions in fixed income, rates and currencies, it is likely to record a pre-tax loss of between 600 million and 800 million Swiss francs. It attributes the trouble mainly to deteriorating conditions in the United Statex subprime residential mortgage market.

The firm said its FIRC division will record negative revenues of about CHF4 billion. These write downs are mainly due to: legacy positions of the now closed Dillon Read Capital Management subsidiary; and, positions entered into as part of the investment bank’s mortgage-backed securities business. There are other, smaller, losses in equities proprietary trading, it said. UBS reported it has only limited exposure to leveraged lending with commitments of about US$13 billion. These have also been written down.

The firm also announced a management shakeup, with Marcel Rohner, group CEO, taking over as chairman and CEO of the investment bank. Existing head of the investment bank, Huw Jenkins, is stepping down. Group CFO Clive Standish will retire, and be replaced by Marco Suter, executive vice chairman. Walter Stuerzinger, group chief risk officer becomes chief operating officer, corporate center. Also, Robert Wolf, COO of the investment bank, is additionally appointed president.

Additionally, the bank said that the Money Markets, Currencies and Commodities division is to be integrated into Fixed Income. As a result, overall staff numbers will fall by about 1,500 by the end of this year.

Commenting on these decisions, Rohner, said, “On August 14, I said that if turbulent conditions prevail throughout the quarter, we will probably see a very weak trading result in the investment bank, offset by predictable earnings from wealth and asset management. In fact, conditions remained turbulent, so we will make an overall pre-tax loss at group level for the quarter.”

“Our first quarterly loss in nine years is an unsatisfactory result, especially after such a strong first half. I have therefore taken decisive action to be as transparent as possible. I have also made appropriate senior management changes, and will accelerate already-planned changes to the firm,” he added. “Following these actions, UBS is in a strong position to continue to grow its client businesses. Despite the unsatisfactory results for the third quarter, we still expect to end the year with a good level of profits and in a strong capital position.”

For the first nine months of 2007, UBS expects pre-tax profits for the group of CHF10 billion. It adds that the other businesses in the investment bank, as well as the global wealth management & business banking and global asset management business groups are performing very well.

The firm reported that its remaining relevant positions in direct sub prime RMBS have a current net value of US$19 billion. It also has exposure of below US$4 billion in sub prime securities through warehouse lines and retained CDOs.

Results for third quarter will be announced on October 30.

Following the UBS news, rival Credit Suisse Group announced that it was profitable during the quarter.

Credit Suisse Group said that it is currently in the process of finalizing its results and therefore any view of its earnings are preliminary. “However, as has been the case across the industry, its investment banking and asset management results have been adversely impacted by recent market events,” it said.

The firm said it has no indication that its net income from continuing operations (after tax) for the third quarter will fall outside the range of plus or minus 20% of 1.3 billion Swiss francs. It also expects net income for the first nine months of 2007 to be at a record level.

Credit Suisse’s Q3 earnings will be published on November 1.