ZURICH: UBS said on Monday that it had finalised the takeover of its former rival Credit Suisse, clearing the way for a Herculean task of integration that will be closely watched by clients, employees and Swiss political leaders.
The coming months are likely to be “bumpy”, UBS chief Sergio Ermotti had warned Friday, saying the government-orchestrated operation would require “waves” of difficult decisions, particularly regarding employment.
“We have finalised the legal takeover of Credit Suisse,” the bank said in an open letter published in the NZZ newspaper, calling it “the beginning of a historic new chapter”.
UBS, the country’s leading bank, was forced into the marriage to prevent its rival from going under — with potentially catastrophic consequences for the global financial system — but it had not waited for Monday’s announcement to start preparing to absorb Credit Suisse.
“From Monday onward, UBS can start to be proactive,” Andreas Venditti, a financial analyst for Vontobel, told AFP.
UBS has been preparing since mid-March and already has an idea of what it wants to keep, close or sell, but had been “limited in what they could do” until the merger was sealed, Venditti said.
The merger of Switzerland’s two biggest banks will be complex both technically and politically, resulting in a megabank unlike the Swiss have ever seen — a size that has political leaders worried. Thousands of jobs could be lost because of overlapping operations.
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