UBS Group AG is starting to formulate a strategy to find a successor to CEO Sergio Ermotti, chairman Axel Weber told Bloomberg TV.

The Jan. 7 statement marks the first time the Swiss lender has publicly confirmed that it is taking steps to find a replacement for Ermotti, according to the report.

Weber told Bloomberg that a potential appointment is "not going to happen abruptly." But Weber also said he was "thinking about what is it that you’re going to do and how you’re going to pass the bank over to your successors ... We’re at a very early stage of those discussions."

His comments come after sources told the news agency that UBS is in preliminary talks with Christian Meissner, former head of corporate and investment banking at Bank of America Corp., as a potential successor to Ermotti.