It is an emblematic merger for the European banking sector: the Swiss giant UBS will buy its great rival Credit Suisse, in great trouble after collapsing on the stock market last week. If the takeover was carried out at the request of the Swiss authorities, believing it to be the best solution, the very idea of a merger between the two banking groups has long been unthinkable, since the two are similar. But, for Switzerland, it was not possible to drop Credit Suisse, a national monument, either.
Credit Suisse is part of Swiss history. The bank was founded in the mid-19th century, in 1856, at the instigation of Alfred Escher who wanted to finance the railway in the country. Established in the economic landscape for many generations, it’s a part of everyday life: there are 100 Credit Suisse branches across the country. The group has also contributed to the rise of insurance stalwarts such as Swiss Life and Swiss Re, and industrial giants such as Brown Boveri, ancestor of the ABB engineering group.
For the record: the most expensive box of the Swiss edition of Monopoly, Zurich’s Paradeplatz, houses the headquarters of Credit Suisse.
Swiss symbol of success
Symbol of Swiss success in the world, Credit Suisse was the first Swiss bank to go international in the 1990s and enter Wall Street, even before its great rival UBS. At the time, he was a model of Swiss know-how in the field. However, the perception has changed a lot since the 2010s due to repeated scandals and management setbacks that have weakened the establishment. But the old history of the banking group explains, in part, the reaction of the Swiss authorities, who pushed for UBS to take control.
Credit Suisse’s activities will be taken over by a very similar bank. UBS was born in 1998 in its modern form when the Swiss Bank Corporation (SBS) merged with the Union of Swiss Banks (UBS). Its origins, however, go back to 1854 when six wealth management establishments in Basel came together to manage loans, and to 1852 for its other branch with the creation of a bank in Winterthur, a city at the heart of the industrial revolution in Switzerland. . .
Wealth Management
UBS is the world number 1 in wealth management, also a strong point of Credit Suisse, neck to neck with the US bank Morgan Stanley for second place on the podium. Another common point, investment banking: it is a quarter of the turnover of UBS and a fifth of Credit Suisse. Both banks also invest in asset management and retail banking in Switzerland. This branch, active in particular in mortgages and loans to SMEs, is one of Credit Suisse’s jewels.
These are two monuments of Swiss finance. UBS has more than 72,000 employees, compared to Credit Suisse’s roughly 45,000 employees. Also, from a career point of view in the Swiss banking sector, back and forth between the two banks is quite frequent. This is the case, for example, of the current president of Credit Suisse, Axel Lehmann, who worked for eleven years at UBS, like his general manager, Ulrich Körner, who has changed banks throughout his career. he. . .
Source: BFM TV
