On Monday, UBS announced that it had successfully completed its emergency merger of struggling local rival Credit Suisse, becoming a massive Swiss bank with a $1.6 trillion balance sheet and more strength in wealth management.
UBS CEO Sergio Ermotti and Chairman Colm Kelleher said in an open letter that was printed in Swiss newspapers: "This is the beginning of a new chapter—for UBS, Switzerland as a financial center, and the global financial industry."
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According to them, this largest banking transaction since the global financial crisis of 2008 would provide "challenges" as well as "many opportunities" for Switzerland, its shareholders, staff, and clients.
The letter also stated that they are confident in their ability to manage the takeover.
The group will be in charge of $5 trillion in assets, providing UBS, the largest wealth manager in the world, a dominant position in important areas where it would have otherwise taken years to expand its scale and reach. The 167-year history of Credit Suisse, which has been tainted recently by scandals and losses, is also ended by the merger.
Together, the two banks employ 120,000 people throughout the world, however UBS has already said it would be eliminating positions in order to minimize costs and capitalize on synergies.
Swiss authorities engineered a rescue on March 19 in which UBS agreed to purchase the firm at a steep discount of 3 billion Swiss francs in shares and up to 5 billion Swiss francs in assumed losses. This was done to stop a collapse in consumer trust from tipping Switzerland's No. 2 bank over the brink.
On Friday, UBS and the Swiss government reached an understanding about the terms of a 9 billion Swiss franc ($10 billion) public backstop for losses resulting from the closure of some of Credit Suisse's operations.
In order to provide Credit Suisse customers and workers more security and prevent exits, UBS closed the purchase in less than three months, which was a short period of time considering its size and complexity.
Both UBS and the Swiss government have given guarantees that the acquisition will benefit shareholders and not burden the taxpayer. They assert that the bailout was also required to safeguard Switzerland's reputation as a financial hub, which would be damaged if the failure of Credit Suisse resulted in a wider banking crisis.
After acquiring Credit Suisse for a small portion of its alleged fair value, UBS is expected to report a sizable profit in its second-quarter results on August 31. With this news it is to be seen what is next in this acquisition?
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