8. Markus Diethelm

UBS' top lawyer didn't have a great year: under Markus Diethelm's direction, the Swiss bank lost a $5 billion criminal trial in France. The Swiss lawyer and CEO Sergio Ermotti appeared blindsided, and Diethelm quickly went back to the drawing board (not before letting off some steam though). Three months later, the 63-year-old had honed a new, no-holds-barred plan for a retrial set to begin in June.

9. Urs Rohner

Credit Suisse's energetic «Mr. Teflon» chairman appeared more worn down than ever before in October, when he faced press to admit that the Swiss bank had hired private surveillance to tail a defecting top executive. Urs Rohner's avowal that it had been «almost unbearable» to learn of the scheme was punctured by at least one more episode of exactly that. Rohner's handling of the mess was so ineffectual that by December, Switzerland's regulator got involved. A criminal probe on top of things promises that Rohner, nearing his 11th year on Credit Suisse's board, and CEO Tidjane Thiam (see point 1) will be preoccupied with the matter for some time to come.