UBS Shareholders Express Concerns, But Broadly Support Mega-Merger
(MENAFN- Swissinfo)
Top management tried to justify not consulting shareholders on the Credit Suisse takeover. © Keystone / Georgios Kefalas
UBS bank on Wednesday held its first annual general meeting since agreeing last month to take over rival Credit Suisse, with shareholders remaining broadly supportive despite worries over the risks of the mega-merger.
This content was published on April 5, 2023 April 5, 2023 minutes Bloomberg/Keystone-SDA/jc UBS Chair Colm Kelleher admitted there is a“huge amount of risk in integrating these businesses”, but said he was confident UBS could successfully navigate the challenges. Speaking at the meeting in Basel, he said integrating Credit Suisse would take three to four years, not including the wind down of the investment bank.
Outgoing chief executive Ralph Hamers also admitted the challenge but stressed the opportunities the merger presents: a bank with a total of $5,000 billion of assets in wealth and asset management will be created, and UBS will further strengthen its base, he said. The Dutchman is making way for Sergio Ermotti to return to lead the bank for a second time.
UBS last month agreed to buy its local rival for CHF3 billion ($3.3 billion) in a government-backed deal to avert a Credit Suisse collapse and financial market meltdown. At Wednesday's meeting, its top management tried to justify the fact that the shareholders had been ignored in the decision to take over Credit Suisse. "We had to act immediately to stabilise the situation," said Kelleher.
Some UBS shareholders expressed concerns about the risks of the merger, including a concentration of climate risk and the amount of jobs at risk worldwide.
However, the re-election of all the UBS board of directors and the sign-off on the compensation arrangements for senior staff took place with little fanfare or protest, unlike Credit Suisse's last annual shareholder meeting on Tuesday where a significant proportion of shareholders withheld their support. Credit Suisse shareholders in fact rejected a proposed pay package for managers.
More
More
why switzerland needs workers from abroad
switzerland is an attractive place to work and the country needs specialists. but work permits can be hard to come by.
Articles in this story
why switzerland needs workers from abroad
Tags:
In compliance with the JTI standards
More: swi swissinfo.ch certified by the journalism trust initiative
Contributions under this article have been turned off. You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch .
More
More
MENAFN05042023000210011054ID1105951191
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.