UBS and Credit Suisse: similar Swiss banks with different destinies

Swiss retail banking

Both banks are active in wealth management and retail banking. UBS relies on a network of around 200 branches in Switzerland compared to his 95 branches at Credit Suisse.

Credit Suisse’s Swiss branch is considered one of its jewels and is particularly active in mortgages and loans for SMEs.

In a note on Thursday, analysts at US financial services giant JP Morgan thought that in the event of a merger, this division of Credit Suisse would probably have to spin off or list separately on the stock exchange.

The Swiss Competition Commission may be reluctant to approve mergers in this area.

Pillars of the Swiss Bank

UBS and Credit Suisse are at the top of banking in a country known worldwide for its banking industry.

UBS was born in 1998 when Swiss Bank merged with Swiss Union Bank.

The origins of the SBC date back to 1854, when six Basel wealth management institutions joined forces. Union Bank of Switzerland, on the other hand, dates back to 1852 and established a bank in Winterthur, the center of Switzerland’s industrial revolution.

Credit Suisse was born around the same time in 1856, at the instigation of Alfred Escher, who wanted to finance the Swiss rail boom.

Credit Suisse has also contributed to the emergence of insurance heavyweights such as Swiss Life and Swiss Re, as well as industrial giants such as Brown Boveri, the ancestor of the ABB Engineering Group.

The two banks are now a global group, with UBS employing 72,597 and Credit Suisse employing 50,480.

A career that spans banks

The two banks’ headquarters are so close to each other that it’s not uncommon for a person to start a career at one bank and then continue at the other.

Credit Suisse Chairman Axel Lehmann worked at UBS for over 11 years before being called to the rescue in 2021 to turn Credit Suisse back on its feet.

And Ulrich Korner, CEO of Credit Suisse, quit banking to join UBS and then came back. He saved the wealth management department first, then the entire bank by taking the CEO position.