The UBS bank, which has announced that it has reached an agreement to buy Credit Suisse, said that the new period that opens after this decision will be difficult for the staff of the latter bank, which has more than 50,000 employees worldwide, 17,000 of them in Switzerland.
“It will be weeks and a difficult time for employees. We will try to make this period of uncertainty as short as possible,” UBS Chairman Colm Kellenher told a news conference with members of the Swiss government.
None of the speakers made an estimate of the number of workers who will lose their jobs as a result of this measure.
Kellenher assured that after this transaction his bank will remain “solid as a rock” and that his strategy in this new stage will be to “grow our capital.”
Among the details he offered, Kellenher said that Credit Suisse investment banking unit to be downsized, which has been the one that has given him the most problems in recent years and the one that was involved in several scandals that stained his reputation. That investment bank “will not represent more than 25% of the bank’s assets,” said the UBS chairman.
Later, he indicated that Credit Suisse First Boston, the investment bank of the absorbed bank in the United States, will continue to operate.
“We are committed to making this operation a great success,” said the executive.
