Up to 35,000 UBS and Credit Suisse jobs at risk

In Switzerland alone, up to 11,000 jobs would be affected, according to the SonntagsZeitung © Keystone / Peter Klaunzer

The megabank created by the UBS takeover of Credit Suisse is poised to reduce its global workforce by 20-30% – between around 25,000 and 36,000 positions – according to the SonntagsZeitung newspaper, citing an unnamed senior UBS manager.

This is far more than the 9,000 jobs Credit Suisse had planned to cut in its restructuring plan before the Swiss authorities forced UBS to buy out its imploding rival on March 19.

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In Switzerland alone, up to 11,000 jobs would be affected, the SonntagsZeitung saidExternal link.

Before the takeover, UBS employed just over 72,000 people worldwide, compared with more than 50,000 at Credit Suisse.

UBS agreed to buy Zurich rival Credit Suisse for CHF3 billion ($3.3 billion) in a deal engineered by the Swiss government, the central bank and market regulator to avoid a meltdown in the country’s financial system.

But the deal, which was also designed to help to secure financial stability globally, has raised concerns over the size of a new bank with $1.6 trillion (CHF1.45 trillion) in assets.

On Saturday Sergio Ermotti, the former and future head of Swiss bank UBS, tried to allay fears that the institution would be too big.

Local business

The SonntagsZeitung does not specify the period over which these job cuts are planned, nor the activities most affected within the two banking giants.

Like UBS, Credit Suisse is active in asset management and investment banking, but like its competitor, it also relies on its local business, which includes mortgages and loans to small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs).

In Switzerland, Credit Suisse’s retail bank has 95 branches, while UBS has about 200. Credit Suisse employs about 17,000 people in Switzerland.

General meetings

According to the SonntagsBlickExternal link, the Credit Suisse brand should exist for another three or four years before it disappears.

Credit Suisse shareholders, who will receive only 76 cents per share, are due to meet in Zurich on Tuesday for the bank’s general meeting. UBS shareholders will meet the following day in Zurich.

The merger is taking place without the approval of their respective shareholders, as the Swiss authorities have waived the obligation to consult them in the name of the best interests of the Swiss financial centre.