UBS confirmed on Monday that it has completed its takeover of Credit Suisse, almost three months after embarking on a Swiss government-backed acquisition of the investment bank.
“This is a very important moment — not just for UBS, (but) for Switzerland as a financial location and for Switzerland as a country,” UBS CEO Sergio Ermotti confirmed. “So we do feel the responsibility, but we are fully motivated.” This takeover was largely seen as an effort to save Switzerland’s reputation as the global financial center while also fending off banking sector instability.
Credit Suisse was plunged into financial danger following an array of controversies, including poor decision-making when choosing hedge funds to back, a failure to prevent money laundering, and accusations of failing to report secret offshore accounts used by wealthy Americans to avoid paying U.S. taxes.
In addition to the company’s assets, UBS is also set to inherit Credit Suisse’s ongoing cases, including a ruling in Singapore that the bank owes former Georgian Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili hundreds of millions of dollars after failing to protect his funds from being pilfered by a manager.