AFP, ZURICH - Shares in Swiss banking giant UBS slid to an all-time low point on Tuesday, after it announced a corporate governance structure overhaul and the resignation of four board members.

By late morning, the stock was down 5.2 percent to 20.32 Swiss francs, after having touched the day's low of 20. It was the worst performer of the Swiss Market Index which was down 1.29 percent.

Even if the restructuring of its management was deemed positive by the market, possible new asset writedowns in the second quarter, clients' withdrawal of funds, and a tax evasion case in the United States still weigh heavily on the bank, said Swiss bank Wegelin in a note.

"As long as there is no clarity on this subject, a return to normal is hardly possible," said the bank's analysts.

Another Zurich-based analyst said: "UBS could have announced a warning on its second-quarter results and it is not excluded that it could still do that."

Earlier on Tuesday, the group announced a new governance model, which takes effect immediately and which includes the abolition of the chairman's office whose duties and responsibilities have been shifted to board committees.

Former chairman Marcel Ospel had earlier been accused by critics of holding too much power in the bank. The new structure appears to address this issue.

An extraordinary general meeting would be held on October 2 to elect new members replacing the four board members who will resign in October, the bank said in a statement.

Ospel's replacement as chairman, Peter Kurer, said that "bringing UBS back to its leading position was the number one priority."

"We have made a big step forward with the clear separation of the duties between the board and executive management and the abolition of the chairman's office," he said.

"The duties and responsibilities of the former chairman's office are now allocated to a greater number of committees of the board, including new Risk and Strategy Committees," said the group's statement.

Meanwhile, other duties have been hived off to the Governance and Nominating Committee and the Human Resources and Compensation Committee.

The bank had written off over 37,4 billion dollars in assets since the beginning of the subprime crisis.

Analysts are expecting further writedowns to come when the group reports its second quarter results, scheduled on August 12.

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