UBS Group announced on May 9 that Credit Suisse CEO Ulrich Koerner will remain in the leadership team following the acquisition of its Swiss rival.
The reshuffle also sees Todd Tucker, currently the finance chief of UBS’s core asset management business, promoted to group chief financial officer, succeeding Sarah Youngwood who is set to leave after a year in the position when the deal closes.
Leadership reshuffle of Credit Suisse by UBS
UBS’s acquisition of Credit Suisse comes as part of a Swiss government-orchestrated rescue backed by up to 250 billion Swiss francs ($281.25 billion) of state support, following recent banking sector turmoil that brought the country’s No. 2 lender to the brink of collapse.
Besides Koerner, who spent over a decade at UBS before returning to Credit Suisse in 2021, UBS CEO Sergio Ermotti largely leaned on UBS executives in pulling together his new team. Some media had speculated that a number of Credit Suisse bankers would take up senior roles at the new group.
UBS stated that Koerner would be responsible for Credit Suisse’s operational continuity and client focus, while supporting its integration.
Credit Suisse executive board members will report to both their relevant UBS executive board members and Koerner. It remains unclear whether Koerner will stay on after the integration is completed.
Attention now shifts to UBS’s strategic plans for the combined bank. UBS reiterated that it will evaluate all options for Credit Suisse’s Swiss business, which currently comprises wealth management, commercial and investment banking, and will “communicate further on this matter in the coming months.”
A person familiar with the matter said a decision on the Swiss unit’s future was likely to be taken by the end of the summer. UBS needs to act fast given that Credit Suisse is structurally loss-making, said the person, who declined to be named because the discussions were private.
Cryptopolitan reported last week that options under consideration for that business include a sale or an initial public offering of Credit Suisse’s domestic unit.
Ermotti, who returned to UBS in April to steer the biggest banking deal since the global financial crisis, involving Switzerland’s two largest banks employing around 120,000 people worldwide, said in a statement:
This is a pivotal moment for UBS, Credit Suisse, and the entire banking industry. Together we will solidify and represent the Swiss model for finance around the world, one that is capital-light, less reliant on taking risk, and anchored by stability and high-touch service.
Two separate parent companies during integration
UBS stated that following the legal closing of the transaction, which it expects in the coming weeks, UBS Group AG would manage two separate parent companies – UBS AG and Credit Suisse AG – throughout the integration process it has said could take three to four years.
During that time, each institution will continue to have its own subsidiaries and branches, serve its clients, and deal with counterparties.
Tucker, who joined UBS in 2004 from KPMG in New York, has held various leadership roles across finance in the United States and Switzerland, UBS said.
Additionally, Michelle Bereaux, a UBS employee since 1998, will become group integration officer, while several top UBS managers will retain their jobs, including Iqbal Khan as head of global wealth management, Rob Karofsky as president of investment banking, and Sabine Keller-Busse as president of UBS Switzerland.
