Political parties react to the Credit Suisse rescue merger

Politicians in parliament will most likely deal with the fallout of the takeover of Credit Suisse by UBS. Keystone/Alessandro Della Valle

Switzerland's main political parties have called for measures to avoid a repeat of the takeover of the country's second-largest bank, Credit Suisse.

The right-wing Swiss People’s Party criticised the government for pushing the merger between the leading banks UBS and Credit Suisse.

It warned the deal was too risky and blamed the centre-right Radical Party, which has traditional links to Credit Suisse, for the downfall of the Zurich-based bank.

The left-wing Social Democrats said a parliamentary investigation was needed to shed light on the crisis and the stakeholders should have to be held liable. They also want to introduce a ban on bonus payments for managers.

The Radicals called for legal amendments but welcomed the deal as unavoidable to avert further damage to Switzerland’s financial industry.

In a similar vein, the Centre Party urged that lessons must be learnt from the latest crisis, which comes 15 years after the Swiss central bank bailed out UBS in the 2008 financial crisis. It said the merger was the best of all the bad solutions.

The Green Party said stricter rules were necessary for Switzerland’s financial centre, notably a ban on investment banking for systemically important banks.

+ The deal between UBS and Credit Suisse in detail

Business and trade unions

Switzerland’s main business organisation, economiesuisse, welcomed the government’s intervention to help prevent a destabilisation of the Swiss financial centre.

It said the merger between UBS and Credit Suisse stopped a fatal escalation.

For its part, the Trade Union Federation wants the authorities to set up a task force to help limit job losses.

Experts say that job cuts are inevitable, as both banks have had parallel structures.

UBS had a staff of 17,000 in Switzerland at the end of last year, while Credit Suisse employed about 16,000 people in Switzerland.

On Sunday, UBS chairman Colm Kelleher said it was too early to give details but he pledged that the new banking giant would take into account the concerns over mass lay-offs.