UBS wrote to the New York Times on Twitter, after the newspaper reported that there were months of negotiations between the Swiss bank and Banco Santander over Orcel's pay following the announcement of his hire in September.

"This decision was non-negotiable and we did not negotiate," the bank said.

Santander on Tuesday said that Orcel would not take over as chief executive as the cost of paying him deferred compensation accrued at UBS was higher than it had expected, in a rare and unusual U-turn on such a high-level appointment.

(Reporting by Riham Alkousaa; Editing by Rachel Armstrong)