UBS Group has announced that it has migration completed of all former Credit Suisse clients on its systems, marking a substantial step towards completing the integration of the competitor, acquired in a historic transaction three years ago.
According to a statement, the bank, having completed the transfer of Credit Suisse clients to Switzerland, will now begin "the final phase of integration", which includes the decommissioning of part of the IT infrastructure, and is expected to be “substantially completed” by the end of the year.
“We have seamlessly transitioned approximately 1,2 million customers globally,” said CEO Sergio Ermotti. “We have reached another milestone in the first merger of two global systemically important banks and in one of the most complex integrations in the history of the banking sector. There is still a lot of work to do to complete the integration, but the end of client migration strengthens the UBS franchise and lays the foundation for offering an even broader and more seamless range of services to all clients.”
The end result will help reduce costs
The CFO of UBS, Todd Tuckner, explained that the completion of the client migration will allow the bank to undertake the final phase of the integration, namely the divestment of the entire Credit Suisse platform, a step that will allow save large sums of moneyUBS had previously said it would soon launch a new wave of staff cuts, already planned after the disposal of some inherited IT systems. The bank is also preparing to close several data processing centers and data centers.
ubs has acquired Credit Suisse as part of a government-orchestrated rescue operation announced in March 2023, when its rival was on the brink of collapse. The acquisition increased UBS's size, but it also burdened it with the enormous task of integrating many businesses, which involved staff cuts, the disposal of obsolete assets, and the merging of IT systems.
The Swiss credit institution now finds itself having to satisfy additional capital requirements for tens of billions of dollars, as part of government measures to strengthen the financial system. UBS is trying to convince the authority to tone down the demands, and a decision is expected to be made as early as next month. Meanwhile Sergio Ermotti plans to resignAccording to the media, the farewell could come in April 2027, perhaps during the next shareholders' meeting.
