UBS Group’s Asia-Pacific president signalled that most of the bank’s job cuts in the region are over as it nears the official completion of its historic merger with Credit Suisse Group.
“We have optimised most of the positions both in terms of lines of business and the geography,” Edmund Koh, Asia-Pacific president at UBS, said on Friday (May 24). UBS is present in 13 locations in Asia-Pacific and “for most of that we are done”, he said.
The Swiss lender has been cutting thousands of staff following an emergency rescue of Credit Suisse last year in a government brokered deal. The takeover is due to close officially this week, according to Koh.
“Staff attrition rate, both voluntary and involuntary, you know, was quite high,” said Koh at the UBS Investment Conference in Hong Kong. “That’s because of duplication of roles that we have eliminated.”
UBS has retained the best of both teams and has added net new assets while client retention has been “very strong”, he said.
Clients have been putting money to work, investing in bonds, and the US market, while the China Internet industry is “coming back”, said Koh.
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UBS, which runs the largest private bank in Asia, is rebuilding in markets such as India. “It’s a good market for us, but still early days in India, still a lot of heavy lifting to do,” said Koh.
It returned to profit in the first quarter after two quarters of losses, cementing sustained progress in the integration of Credit Suisse after its rescue last year. BLOOMBERG
