Ubs-Credit Suisse, up to 30,000 jobs at risk after the Corriere.it merger

It will be a crucial week for Credit Suisse, destined to merge with former rival UBS as part of the safety net set up by UBS and the Swiss authorities. The general meeting will be held on Tuesday, April 4 at Zurich’s Hallenstadion and will bring together Credit Suisse shareholders, who will receive just 76 cents per share. Those of Ubs instead have an appointment the following day, Wednesday 7 April, again in Zurich. The merger between the two banks takes place without the approval of their respective shareholders, given that the Swiss authorities have revoked the obligation to consult them for the rescue, invoking the best interests of the financial center. Credit Suisse was acquired last month by rival UBS in a $3.23 billion deal engineered by the Swiss government, central bank and market regulator to avert its collapse and possible contagion throughout the global financial system. Now the future strategy has been entrusted to Sergio Ermotti who will lead UBS after the merger with Credit Suisse. The top manager from Ticino has already been at the helm of UBS from 2011 to 2020 and is now back as CEO, in the wake of a significant challenge, that of the acquisition of Credit Suisse.

Job cuts

Meanwhile, it emerges that after completing the operation with Credit Suisse Ubs cut between 20% and 30% of jobs, around 36,000 worldwide, of which 11,000 in Switzerland, according to the numbers reported by the Sunday SonntagsZeitung and by the Bloomberg agency. Credit Suisse had announced 9,000 cuts before the UBS bailout. Before the acquisition, UBS employed just over 72,000 people compared to more than 50,000 for Credit Suisse. The risks of duplication, according to the market, are significant, as the profiles of UBS and Credit Suisse are similar. Active like UBS in wealth management and investment banking, Credit Suisse relies, like its competitor, also on the local business, which offers in particular mortgages and loans to SMEs. In Switzerland, its retail bank has 95 branches, compared to about 200 for UBS. Credit Suisse employs around 17,000 people.

The location of Norges

The assembly looms hot. Norges Bank has already announced that it will vote against the re-election of Credit Suisse chairman Axel Lehmann and six other directors, as announced on its website. Shareholders should have the right to request changes from the board of directors when it does not act in their best interests, the fund said. In addition to Lehmann, Norges also opposes the re-election of Credit Suisse directors Iris Bohnet, Christian Gellerstad, Shan Li, Seraina Macia, Richard Meddings and Ana Pessoa.

The Credit Suisse brand and 160 years of history are at risk

The Credit Suisse brand, according to reports from the Sonntagsblick, should instead be preserved for the next 3-4 years before disappearing after more than 160 years of history. This information is the only one filtered so far on the details of the operation, underlined the Zurich sheet. For legal reasons, UBS has not yet lifted the veil on the pattern it intends to follow in the reorganization of its business areas. According to SonntagsZeitung reports, only in eight weeks, when UBS will have access to all the information, will management be able to decide between what remains and what will instead be spun off. The mega-merger between the two major Swiss banks has given new breath to those who for years have argued for transforming the financial branch of the post office, PostFinance, into a real bank capable of granting mortgages and loans.

The lighthouse of the Swiss public prosecutor’s office on the acquisition

Meanwhile, it emerges that the Swiss federal prosecutor has opened an investigation into UBS’s takeover of Credit Suisse, supported by the state, according to reports from the Financial Times. The Bern-based prosecutor is allegedly investigating potential violations of Swiss criminal law by government officials, regulators and executives of the two banks, which agreed to an emergency merger last month, the redacted report would read. There were numerous aspects of the events related to Credit Suisse, the report drawn up by the public prosecutor would recite. The Swiss federal prosecutor’s office has confirmed that it has opened an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the takeover of Credit Suisse by rival and compatriot UBS. The federal prosecutor specifies that it has issued assessment orders after having carried out an inventory of the situation with all the internal services concerned and having contacted the national and cantonal authorities.