But mergers between such large banks come with significant risks, according to Arturo Bris, professor of finance at the IMD Business school, who has examined 1,000 deals between 2002 and 2022.
“Mergers between established banks like UBS and CS, which are no longer growing rapidly and are less profitable than their competitors, almost never work,” told the Tages Anzeiger newspaper. “On average, post-merger profits are 4% lower than before the merger.”
Philipp Rickenbacher, CEO of Julius Bär bank, sees a long road ahead before the takeover can be deemed a success.
“An integration of that order of magnitude in Switzerland is going to take a lot of resources and effort, and a lot of complexity,” he told the Financial Times.
Julius Bär has seen inflows of client assets from both Credit Suisse and UBS in recent weeks. And the private banking group has been contacted by many Credit Suisse staff asking for job opportunities.
A poll last week of Swiss economists found that nearly half think the takeover of Credit Suisse is not the best solution and warned that the situation has dented Switzerland’s reputation as a banking centre.
Both Bris and Rickenbacher believe that states should not have to intervene to save banks from collapsing.
Financial regulations, drawn up after the 2008 financial crisis, should have made it possible for Credit Suisse to go bust in an orderly fashion.
“Too Big to Fail [regulations] were designed to solve one problem…and in this case they could not solve that problem,” said Rickenbacher. “[My] gut feeling and moral compass says that a private institution should be able to fail.”
Popular Stories
More
Climate adaptation
Why Switzerland is among the ten fastest-warming countries in the world
Has your continent reached its peak or is there still potential for economic growth?
Some regions of the world are on an upward trajectory with the promise of a steadily improving future. Where do you live? And in which direction is your region or continent developing?
Living longer: What do you think about the longevity trend?
The longevity market is booming thanks in part to advances in the science of ageing. What do you think of the idea of significantly extending human lifespan?
Switzerland is closely monitoring three livestock diseases
This content was published on
The spread of Lumpy skin disease, Bluetongue and African swine fever are keeping Swiss veterinary authorities on the alert.
Swiss writer wins European Prize for Political Culture
This content was published on
On Saturday, the Hans Ringier Foundation awarded the 91-year-old Zurich writer Adolf Muschg the European Prize for Political Culture.
Swiss government working with firms to overcome high US tariffs
This content was published on
The Swiss delegation that travelled to Washington has returned from talks on tariffs in the United States. The negotiations are now being conducted under the aegis of the government and the federal administration, according to Seco.
WTO improves its world trade forecast thanks to Trump’s tariffs
This content was published on
The World Trade Organisation (WTO) expects world trade to grow by 0.9% this year, better than expected in April. US imports surged in the first quarter as a result of Donald Trump's tariff announcements.
Swiss gold exports might not face US tariffs after all
This content was published on
Gold exports to the United States may not be taxed after all. The White House plans to "issue an executive order in the near future to clarify misinformation regarding the taxation of gold bullion," among other things.
This content was published on
The Swiss Office of the Attorney General (OAG) has opened an investigation into the state-backed takeover of Credit Suisse by UBS Group.
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.