BNR – Following the acquisition by Credit Suisse, UBS Chief Executive Sergio Ermotti warned of tough job-cutting measures. He expressed hope that the takeover will be formalised in the following days.
“We won’t be able to create, short-term, job opportunities for everybody,” Ermotti said. “Synergies is part of the story,”
His remarks came at an Asset Management Association Switzerland event in Bern.
UBS to Finalise Deal
“We need to take a serious look at the cost base of the standalone and combined organisations and create a sustainable outcome,” he added. “It will be painful.”
Switzerland’s largest bank stated that it hoped to complete the acquisition as soon as possible.
“Hopefully in the next few days it’s going to be done,” Ermotti said. “We are finalising the last the last few miles … we have more than 170 approvals from regulators.”
In April, Ermotti returned as CEO to handle the largest bank deal since the financial meltdown of 2008.
Takeover Not Merger
Ermotti emphasised that it was a takeover, not a merger. Furthermore, he stated that Credit Suisse has many strong individuals and abilities and that its executives may play a larger role in the combined company. Credit Suisse CEO Ulrich Koerner joined the top leadership in that executive shift.
“We will have a more even distribution of jobs … than the one I did myself,” he said. “When the dust settles down …the best thing for our clients and shareholders and our people is to have the best people in the jobs.”
He also argued that the new combined company, with a $1.6 trillion balance sheet, was not too massive for Switzerland.
Switzerland’s Social Democratic Party has proposed reducing UBS’s assets following its acquisition of Credit Suisse. This is done to reduce the possibility of another costly state-backed rescue.
