Swiss Bank UBS
UBS, the Swiss largest bank, has announced the first steps of the restructuring of its investment banking division in an internal memo on Monday. The plans for the integration of Credit Suisse will affect hundreds of employees.
In a memo first obtained by the Reuters news agency, UBS outlines its plans for integrating Credit Suisse into its folds, starting with the investment banking division.
The memo included an announcement of the appointments of the mergers and acquisitions (M&A) division, Marc-Anthony Hourihan and Nestor Paz-Galindo as global co-heads and David Kostel and Christian Lesueur as global co-heads of the coverage division. Tom Churton was noted to be appointed as Global Chief of Staff.
However, the memo also included notice that hundreds of employees will have to leave the company. The cuts would begin this week, Reuters reported on Monday, citing two sources familiar with the matter.
In a statement made to Awp Finanznachrichten AG, a Swiss business news agency, UBS emphasised that Credit Suisse employees had been given a “fair chance” in the selection process and UBS had not only relied on its previous executives. The statement also said UBS’s growth strategy in investment banking would continue to be geared towards sustainable growth and that the bank intends to maintain a “focused” business model and accelerating UBS’s growth strategy, especially in the Americas.
Reuters reports that hundreds of Credit Suisse bankers have already left, while UBS has laid off a number of Credit Suisse’s investment bank staff around the world. Additionally, around 80% of Credit Suisse’s Hong Kong-based investment banking division, the largest proportion of the banks staff in Asia, are to be laid off.
