2023-05-09 12:54:59
Whe pays, announces. This basic principle is reflected in the future management structure of UBS. The major Swiss bank takes over the crashed rival Credit Suisse (CS). As soon as all the approvals from the regulatory and competition authorities for this state-arranged emergency marriage have been received, which should be the case in a few weeks, a group management team that will grow to 16 members will start the difficult work of integration. The new and old UBS CEO Sergio Ermotti relies almost exclusively on the forces in-house.
Only one CS manager is to move to the top command bridge of the new banking giant with the execution of the transaction, the so-called “closing”: Ulrich Körner. This was announced by UBS on Tuesday. The 60-year-old German, who also has a Swiss passport, took over the helm at Credit Suisse last summer. He had tried in vain to get the bank, which was already teetering after numerous scandals and horrendous losses, back on course.
There are several reasons why Ermotti is now bringing him to his side: Before joining Credit Suisse, Körner worked closely with Ermotti in various management positions at UBS for more than ten years. The two know each other and trust each other. Körner is to ensure that UBS’s plans for the gradual integration of the CS Group are also quickly put into practice on the part of the acquired bank. “We need a direct connection to our new unit,” says UBS corporate circles. There, Körner is seen as a kind of party soldier who is supposed to do everything to make integration a success. UBS estimates three to four years for this.
UBS changes chief financial officer
With the legal completion of the transaction, which is expected for early June, the holding company Credit Suisse Group AG will be transferred to the holding company UBS Group AG for CHF 3 billion by way of a share swap and will disappear from the stock exchange. Under UBS Holding, however, UBS AG and Credit Suisse AG are to act side by side for the time being, looking after their respective clients and operating branches. Since CS is “independent” on paper in this transition phase until the gradual integration, the current managers will remain in office for the time being, unless they flee of their own accord.
No security was found!
From now on, the individual CS board members have to report to Körner and to the responsible managers who are in charge of the UBS command bridge. CS executives like Dixit Joshi, Francesca McDonagh and André Helfenstein, who the “Financial Times” recently listed among the hottest candidates for promotion to the UBS board, are unlikely to like that. Coming from Deutsche Bank, Joshi became CFO at Credit Suisse last year.
Ermotti relies on old hands
In fact, UBS is now replacing its own chief financial officer, Sarah Youngwood. But she will be replaced by a man from her own ranks: Todd Tuckner. The American (born 1965) is a UBS veteran; he has worked for the bank since 2004, most recently as CFO of the important asset management division. So Ermotti relies on the experience of his old driving man, while he apparently thinks Youngwood is too lightweight to accompany the complicated fusion work that is now pending. The American-French dual citizen (born in 1974) was hoisted onto the financial chair by Ermotti’s predecessor, Ralph Hamers, just a year ago. Tuckner had lost out in the selection process at the time.
Ermotti gathers even more old hands around him. He appoints Michelle Bereaux to the Executive Board. The lawyer has been with UBS for more than 23 years. As “Group Integration Officer” she will be in charge of the merger of the two banks. According to UBS, Bereaux, who most recently held a management position in asset management, has led various transformation projects in the group in the past.
UBS Head of Human Resources Stefan Seiler will also be promoted to the Management Board. The Swiss, who has worked for UBS since 2011, faces the unpleasant and headline-grabbing task of cutting thousands of jobs as part of the merger. Beatriz Martin Jimenez is also climbing to the top. The Spaniard (born in 1973) is supposed to take care of all those CS transactions that UBS does not want to continue. All other UBS board members, including Iqbal Khan (wealth management) and Sabine Keller-Busse (Switzerland business), remain in their posts.
For the time being, CS should retain its existing management and risk control framework, writes UBS and at the same time emphasizes that “some new instructions” will be introduced to ensure effective supervision.
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