Up to 30% of jobs may go in UBS-Credit Suisse merger

The merger between banks Credit Suisse and UBS could see up to 36,000 jobs being cut across the world, the SonntagsZeitung weekly reported on Sunday.

The takeover by UBS of Credit Suisse was hastily arranged by the Swiss government on March 19 to prevent a global financial meltdown, following fears of contagion from the collapse of banks in the United States.

UBS announced on Wednesday it would bring back former chief executive Sergio Ermotti to handle the huge risks involved in the Swiss banking giant’s controversial absorption of its troubled rival Credit Suisse.

On Sunday, citing internal anonymous sources, SonntagsZeitung said management was mulling cutting between 20 percent and 30 percent of the workforce, meaning between 25,000 and 36,000 jobs.

Up to 11,000 jobs could be cut in Switzerland alone, according to the weekly, which did not provide details of which posts could be targeted.

Before the merger, UBS and Credit Suisse had employed slightly more than 72,000 and 50,000 people, respectively.

UBS and Credit Suisse, the second-biggest bank in Switzerland, were both among the select banks around the world considered to be global systemically important financial institutions (G-SIFIs) and therefore deemed too big to fail.

UBS chairman Colm Kelleher said this week: “There’s a huge amount of risk in integrating these businesses.”

Credit Suisse was embroiled in a series of scandals in the years leading up to a March 15 share price collapse, when investor confidence plunged following two bank failures in the United States.

Among these was the bankruptcy of the British financial company Greensill and the implosion of the US hedge fund Archegos.

It was also caught up in a bribery scandal in Mozambique involving loans to state-owned companies and was fined $2 million in a money laundering case linked to a Bulgarian cocaine network.

Norges Bank Investment Management will vote against the re-election of Credit Suisse Chair Axel Lehmann and six other directors at the Swiss lender’s annual general meeting on Tuesday, the Norwegian wealth fund said on its website.

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 avoid its collapse and possible contagion across the global financial system.

“Shareholders should have the right to seek changes to the board when it does not act in their best interest,” the Norges wealth fund said ahead of the April 4 meeting.

In addition to Lehmann, Norges is also opposing re-election of Credit Suisse directors Iris Bohnet, Christian Gellerstad, Shan Li, Seraina Macia, Richard Meddings and Ana Pessoa.

Both Credit Suisse and UBS declined to comment.

Credit Suisse had also encountered opposition from proxy adviser Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS), which had recommended that shareholders vote against a proposal by the bank for its board and senior management to be released from liability for its 2022 financial results.

ISS had cited a “lack of oversight and poor stewardship” that ultimately led to the problems that necessitated its rescue by UBS.

Credit Suisse on Wednesday withdrew its request for the “discharge of responsibility” for the board and management. Switzerland’s Federal Prosecutor has opened an investigation into the state-backed takeover of Credit Suisse by UBS Group, the office of the attorney general said on Sunday.

The prosecutor, based in the Swiss capital Bern, is looking into potential breaches of the country’s criminal law by government officials, regulators and executives at the two banks, which agreed on an emergency merger last month to avoid a meltdown in the country’s financial system.

There were “numerous aspects of events around Credit Suisse” that warranted investigation and which needed to be analysed to “identify any criminal offences that could fall within the competence of the”, it said in a statement.

“The Office of the Attorney General wants to proactively fulfil its mandate and responsibility to contribute to a clean Swiss financial centre and has set up a monitoring system so that it can take action immediately on any issues that fall within its area of responsibility,” it added.

It gave no indication of any specific aspects of the merger agreement it might look into or how long the investigation might last.

Credit Suisse and UBS did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Last month, UBS said it would acquire rival Credit Suisse for 3 billion Swiss francs ($3.3 billion) in a deal orchestrated by the Swiss government, the central bank and market regulator.

The bank is trying to close the deal by as soon as end April, sources have told Reuters.

A poll of Swiss economists found that nearly half think the takeover of Credit Suisse was not the best solution, and warned that the situation had dented Switzerland’s reputation as a banking centre.

The deal, which was also designed to help secure financial stability globally during a period of turmoil, has sparked concern among critics about the size of the merged bank, with $1.6 trillion in assets and more than 120,000 staff worldwide.

Up to 30% of staff could lose their jobs due to the takeover, according to an unnamed senior UBS manager quoted in Swiss media.

Agencies