UBS ahead of schedule on cost savings, CEO says

Swiss bank UBS is running around six months ahead of schedule in its cost savings efforts and its integration of Credit Suisse, CEO Sergio Ermotti said on Tuesday.

UBS is making market share gains and its investment bank is developing as expected, Ermotti said at a Bank of America conference.

“When I look at cost progress, when I look at non-core legacy assets wind down and simplifications, we are, I would say, around six months out of schedule,” Ermotti said.

“I would say that we are in a good trajectory. And honestly, I think that things are going pretty well.”

UBS bought Credit Suisse for 3 billion Swiss francs ($3.54 billion) last year in a government engineered takeover after the bank ran aground following a series of scandals and losses triggered a liquidity crisis.

The deal left Switzerland with a single global bank, one boasting a balance sheet around twice the size of the country’s annual economic output and triggering fears about UBS’s market dominance.

Ermotti said UBS had completed the legal entity mergers of Credit Suisse, with 80 regulators providing 180 approvals around the world.

“This is very much the prerequisite to tackle the next round of cost reductions,” Ermotti said.

UBS shares reacted positively to the update, rising 3.5 per cent in morning trading.

“We saw a very constructive environment in terms of volatility in markets in the second quarter,” Ermotti said, while noting the third quarter would be a “little bit more challenging” when it came to dealmaking.