UBS Group AG is a multinational
investment bank
Investment is the dedication of money to purchase of an asset to attain an increase in value over a period of time. Investment requires a sacrifice of some present asset, such as time, money, or effort.
In finance, the purpose of investing is ...
and
financial services
Financial services are the Service (economics), economic services provided by the finance industry, which encompasses a broad range of businesses that manage money, including credit unions, banks, credit-card companies, insurance companies, acco ...
company founded and based in
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
. Co-headquartered in the cities of
Zürich
Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...
and
Basel
, french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese
, neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...
, it maintains a presence in all major financial centres as the
largest Swiss banking institution and the
largest private bank in the world. UBS client services are known for their strict bank–client confidentiality and culture of
banking secrecy
Banking secrecy, alternately known as financial privacy, banking discretion, or bank safety,Guex (2000), p. 240 is a conditional agreement between a bank and its clients that all foregoing activities remain secure, confidential, and private. Mos ...
. Because of the bank's large positions in the
Americas
The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World.
Along with th ...
,
EMEA
EMEA is a shorthand designation meaning Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The acronym is used by institutions and governments, as well as in marketing and business when referring to this region: it is a shorthand way of referencing the two ...
, and
Asia Pacific
Asia-Pacific (APAC) is the part of the world near the western Pacific Ocean. The Asia-Pacific region varies in area depending on context, but it generally includes East Asia, Russian Far East, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Australia and Pacific Is ...
markets, the
Financial Stability Board
The Financial Stability Board (FSB) is an international body that monitors and makes recommendations about the global financial system. It was established after the G20 London summit in April 2009 as a successor to the Financial Stability Forum ...
considers it a
global systemically important bank.
Apart from private banking, UBS provides
wealth management
Wealth management (WM) or wealth management advisory (WMA) is an investment advisory service that provides financial management and wealth advisory services to a wide array of clients ranging from affluent to high-net-worth (HNW) and ultra-high- ...
,
asset management
Asset management is a systematic approach to the governance and realization of value from the things that a group or entity is responsible for, over their whole life cycles. It may apply both to tangible assets (physical objects such as buildings ...
, and investment banking services for private, corporate, and institutional clients with international service. UBS manages the largest amount of private wealth in the world, counting approximately half of
the world's billionaires
''The World's Billionaires'' is an annual ranking by documented net worth of the wealthiest billionaires in the world, compiled and published in March annually by the American business magazine ''Forbes''. The list was first published in March ...
among its clients. Despite its trimming of sell-side operations, UBS maintains
a global investment bank and is considered a primary
market maker
A market maker or liquidity provider is a company or an individual that quotes both a buy and a sell price in a tradable asset held in inventory, hoping to make a profit on the ''bid–ask spread'', or ''turn.'' The benefit to the firm is that it ...
. The bank also maintains numerous underground bank vaults, bunkers, and storage facilities for gold bars around the
Swiss Alps
The Alpine region of Switzerland, conventionally referred to as the Swiss Alps (german: Schweizer Alpen, french: Alpes suisses, it, Alpi svizzere, rm, Alps svizras), represents a major natural feature of the country and is, along with the Swiss ...
and internationally. Partly due to its banking secrecy, it has been at the centre of
numerous tax avoidance investigations undertaken by U.S., French, German, Israeli, and Belgian authorities. UBS operations in Switzerland and the United States were respectively ranked first and second on the 2018
Financial Secrecy Index
The Financial Secrecy Index (FSI) is a report published by the advocacy organization Tax Justice Network (TJN) which ranks countries by ''financial secrecy indicators'', weighted by the economic flows of each country.
It looks at how wealthy ...
.
, UBS is the 3rd largest bank in Europe with a market capitalization of $63 billion. It is one of the nine global "
Bulge Bracket" banks. It has over
CHF3.2 trillion in assets under management (AUM), approximately CHF 2.8 trillion of which are invested assets. In June 2017, its
return on invested capital
Return may refer to:
In business, economics, and finance
* Return on investment (ROI), the financial gain after an expense.
* Rate of return, the financial term for the profit or loss derived from an investment
* Tax return, a blank document or t ...
was 11.1%, followed by
Goldman Sachs
Goldman Sachs () is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered at 200 West Street in Lower Manhattan, with regional headquarters in London, Warsaw, Bangalore, H ...
' 9.35%, and
JPMorgan Chase
JPMorgan Chase & Co. is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered in New York City and incorporated in Delaware. As of 2022, JPMorgan Chase is the largest bank in the United States, the ...
's 9.456%. In late 2016, UBS established a
blockchain technology research lab in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
to advance its cyber security and encryption of client activities. Based on regional deal flow and political influence, UBS is considered one of the "biggest, most powerful financial institutions in the world". The company's capital strength, security protocols, and reputation for discretion have yielded a substantial market share in banking and a high level of
brand loyalty
In marketing, brand loyalty describes a consumer's positive feelings towards a brand, and their dedication to purchasing the brand's products and/or services repeatedly, regardless of deficiencies, a competitor's actions, or changes in the envir ...
. Alternatively, it receives routine criticism for facilitating tax noncompliance and
off-shore financing. UBS is a
primary dealer
A primary dealer is a firm that buys government securities directly from a government, with the intention of reselling them to others, thus acting as a market maker of government securities. The government may regulate the behaviour and number of ...
and
Forex
The foreign exchange market (Forex, FX, or currency market) is a global decentralized or over-the-counter (OTC) market for the trading of currencies. This market determines foreign exchange rates for every currency. It includes all as ...
counterparty of the U.S.
Federal Reserve
The Federal Reserve System (often shortened to the Federal Reserve, or simply the Fed) is the central banking system of the United States of America. It was created on December 23, 1913, with the enactment of the Federal Reserve Act, after a ...
.
History
UBS was founded in 1862 as the
Bank in Winterthur
The Bank in Winterthur is one of the original predecessor banks to the Union Bank of Switzerland and ultimately UBS. Established in 1862, the bank merged with Toggenburger Bank in 1912 to form the Union Bank of Switzerland.
History
The Bank in ...
.
This development came with the formation of the series of modern Swiss ''Grossbanken'' (big banks) in the latter part of the 19th century. The name of the bank was derived from the town of
Winterthur
, neighboring_municipalities = Brütten, Dinhard, Elsau, Hettlingen, Illnau-Effretikon, Kyburg, Lindau, Neftenbach, Oberembrach, Pfungen, Rickenbach, Schlatt, Seuzach, Wiesendangen, Zell
, twintowns = Hall in Tirol (Austria), La ...
, which served as Switzerland's industrial hub in the 19th century. By 1854, six private bankers in
Basel
, french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese
, neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...
founded the
Swiss Bank Corporation (SBC) to cater to the increasing credit needs of Swiss railroad and manufacturing companies. It formed a
private banking syndicate that expanded, aided by Switzerland's
international neutrality. In 1912, the Bank of Winterthur merged with
Toggenburger Bank
Toggenburger Bank is one of the original predecessor banks to the Union Bank of Switzerland and ultimately UBS. Established in 1863, the bank merged with the Bank in Winterthur in 1912 to form the Union Bank of Switzerland.
History
In 1863, the ...
to form the
Union Bank of Switzerland (UBS)
and grew rapidly after the
Banking Law of 1934 codified Swiss banking secrecy. Following decades of market competition between Union Bank of Switzerland and the Swiss Bank Corporation (SBC), the two merged in 1998 to create a single company known solely as "UBS". UBS does not stand for Union Bank of Switzerland. In fact, that was one of the more than 370 financial firms that have, since 1862, become part of today's UBS. During the
2008 financial crisis
8 (eight) is the natural number following 7 and preceding 9.
In mathematics
8 is:
* a composite number, its proper divisors being , , and . It is twice 4 or four times 2.
* a power of two, being 2 (two cubed), and is the first number of t ...
, UBS managed heavy losses with an asset relief recovery program. In 2011, the company was hit by the
2011 rogue trader scandal resulting in a
US$
The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...
2 billion trading loss. In 2012, the bank reoriented itself around wealth management advisory services and limited its
sell side operations.
Corporate structure
UBS is a
joint-stock
A joint-stock company is a business entity in which shares of the company's stock can be bought and sold by shareholders. Each shareholder owns company stock in proportion, evidenced by their shares (certificates of ownership). Shareholders are ...
company (''
Aktiengesellschaft
(; abbreviated AG, ) is a German word for a corporation limited by Share (finance), share ownership (i.e. one which is owned by its shareholders) whose shares may be traded on a stock market. The term is used in Germany, Austria, Switzerland (wh ...
'') pursuant to Swiss laws. Its shares are listed at the
SIX Swiss Exchange
SIX Swiss Exchange (formerly SWX Swiss Exchange), based in Zurich, is Switzerland's principal stock exchange (the other being Berne eXchange). SIX Swiss Exchange also trades other security (finance), securities such as Swiss government bonds and d ...
and the
New York Stock Exchange
The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed c ...
(NYSE). As of December 2020, UBS is present in all major financial centres worldwide, having offices in 50 countries, with about 30% of its approx. 73,000 employees working in the Americas, 30% in Switzerland, 19% in Europe (excluding Switzerland), the Middle East and Africa and 21% in the Asia Pacific region.
The bank has its major presence in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. Its American headquarters for
investment banking
Investment banking pertains to certain activities of a financial services company or a corporate division that consist in advisory-based financial transactions on behalf of individuals, corporations, and governments. Traditionally associated wit ...
are located in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, for
private wealth management advisory in
Weehawken, New Jersey
Weehawken is a Township (New Jersey), township in the North Hudson, New Jersey, northern part of Hudson County, New Jersey, Hudson County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is located largely on the Hudson Palisades overlooking the North River ...
. They have
sales & trading and private wealth management offices in
Stamford, Connecticut
Stamford () is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut, outside of Manhattan. It is Connecticut's second-most populous city, behind Bridgeport. With a population of 135,470, Stamford passed Hartford and New Haven in population as of the 2020 ...
.
The company's global business groups are
global wealth management,
investment bank
Investment is the dedication of money to purchase of an asset to attain an increase in value over a period of time. Investment requires a sacrifice of some present asset, such as time, money, or effort.
In finance, the purpose of investing is ...
,
asset management
Asset management is a systematic approach to the governance and realization of value from the things that a group or entity is responsible for, over their whole life cycles. It may apply both to tangible assets (physical objects such as buildings ...
and personal & corporate banking.
UBS is the leading provider of
retail banking
Retail banking, also known as consumer banking or personal banking, is the provision of services by a bank to the general public, rather than to companies, corporations or other banks, which are often described as wholesale banking. Banking servi ...
and
commercial banking
A commercial bank is a financial institution which accepts deposits from the public and gives loans for the purposes of consumption and investment to make profit.
It can also refer to a bank, or a division of a large bank, which deals with cor ...
services in Switzerland, as established already in 2009.
Overall invested assets are $3.101 billion,
shareholders' equity is $52.928 billion and
market capitalization
Market capitalization, sometimes referred to as market cap, is the total value of a publicly traded company's outstanding common shares owned by stockholders.
Market capitalization is equal to the market price per common share multiplied by t ...
is $45.907 billion by the end of 2018.
In November 2014, the shares in UBS Group AG were listed and started trading as a new
holding company
A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own shares of other companies ...
at the NYSE and SIX Swiss Exchange. Upon application and with effect as of 14 January 2015, the shares of UBS AG, the
subsidiary
A subsidiary, subsidiary company or daughter company is a company owned or controlled by another company, which is called the parent company or holding company. Two or more subsidiaries that either belong to the same parent company or having a s ...
of the UBS Group AG, were delisted from the NYSE. As of September 2019, the largest institutional shareholders are:
![UBS Offices (299 Park Avenue) 06 (logo cube)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3f/UBS_Offices_%28299_Park_Avenue%29_06_%28logo_cube%29.png)
As of 30 June 2018, the geographical distribution of the shareholders presents itself as follows:
UBS's corporate structure includes four divisions in total as of June 2018:
* Global Wealth Management
* Personal & Corporate Bank
* Asset Management
* Investment Bank
Starting on 9 June 2003, all UBS business groups, including UBS Paine Webber and UBS Warburg, were rebranded under the UBS moniker following company's start of operations as a unified global entity.
Global Wealth Management
UBS's global
wealth management
Wealth management (WM) or wealth management advisory (WMA) is an investment advisory service that provides financial management and wealth advisory services to a wide array of clients ranging from affluent to high-net-worth (HNW) and ultra-high- ...
advisory division offers
high-net-worth individual
High-net-worth individual (HNWI) is a term used by some segments of the financial services industry to designate persons whose investible wealth (assets such as stocks and bonds) exceeds a given amount. Typically, these individuals are defined ...
s around the world a range of advisory and
investment products
An investment fund is a way of investing money alongside other investors in order to benefit from the inherent advantages of working as part of a group such as reducing the risks of the investment by a significant percentage. These advantages inc ...
and services.
As of the end of 2016, UBS Wealth Management's invested assets totalled CHF 977billion.
The whole companies
assets under management (AUM) amounted to US$1,737.5 billion in 2015, representing a 1% decrease in AUM compared to the equivalent data of 2014. As of 2018, UBS manages the largest amount of
private wealth
Wealth management (WM) or wealth management advisory (WMA) is an investment advisory service that provides financial management and wealth advisory services to a wide array of clients ranging from affluent to high-net-worth (HNW) and ultra-high- ...
in the world, counting approximately half of
the world's billionaires
''The World's Billionaires'' is an annual ranking by documented net worth of the wealthiest billionaires in the world, compiled and published in March annually by the American business magazine ''Forbes''. The list was first published in March ...
among its clients. More than 60% of total invested assets in UBS Wealth Management belong to individuals with a net worth of CHF 10 million or more. Of the remaining 40% of total invested assets, 30% of the total belong to individuals with net worth between CHF 1 million and CHF 10 million and the last 10% of total assets belong to individuals with a net worth of less than CHF 1 million.
UBS offers
brokerage services and products as well as
asset management
Asset management is a systematic approach to the governance and realization of value from the things that a group or entity is responsible for, over their whole life cycles. It may apply both to tangible assets (physical objects such as buildings ...
and other investment advisory and portfolio management products and services. Additionally, UBS provides a broad range of
securities and savings products that are supported by the firm's
underwriting
Underwriting (UW) services are provided by some large financial institutions, such as banks, insurance companies and investment houses, whereby they guarantee payment in case of damage or financial loss and accept the financial risk for liabilit ...
and
research
Research is "creativity, creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge". It involves the collection, organization and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular att ...
activities as well as clients' orders management and execution and also clearing services for transactions originated by individual investors. The business is further divided geographically with separate businesses focused on the U.S. and other international markets.
Two thirds of the total invested assets come from Europe and Switzerland, with the final third coming mainly from the Asia-Pacific region.
![UBS Weehawken 2017](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0e/UBS_Weehawken_2017.jpg)
With its
headquarters
Headquarters (commonly referred to as HQ) denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the to ...
in Switzerland, UBS Wealth Management is present in more than 40 countries with approximately 190 offices (100 of which are in Switzerland).
As of the end of 2018, around 23,600 people worldwide were employed by Global Wealth Management.
In Switzerland, UBS Swiss Bank provides a complete set of
retail banking services
Retail banking, also known as consumer banking or personal banking, is the provision of services by a bank to the general public, rather than to companies, corporations or other banks, which are often described as wholesale banking. Banking servi ...
that includes
chequing,
savings
Wealth is the abundance of valuable financial assets or physical possessions which can be converted into a form that can be used for transactions. This includes the core meaning as held in the originating Old English word , which is from an I ...
,
credit card
A credit card is a payment card issued to users (cardholders) to enable the cardholder to pay a merchant for goods and services based on the cardholder's accrued debt (i.e., promise to the card issuer to pay them for the amounts plus the o ...
s, and
mortgage products for individuals.
They offer
cash management and
commercial bank
A commercial bank is a financial institution which accepts deposits from the public and gives loans for the purposes of consumption and investment to make profit.
It can also refer to a bank, or a division of a large bank, which deals with cor ...
ing services for small businesses and corporate clients as well.
UBS global wealth management advisory operations in
the Americas
The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North America, North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. ...
consists of U.S. and Canadian
wealth management
Wealth management (WM) or wealth management advisory (WMA) is an investment advisory service that provides financial management and wealth advisory services to a wide array of clients ranging from affluent to high-net-worth (HNW) and ultra-high- ...
businesses, as well as international business booked in the U.S. UBS Wealth Management in the U.S. is an outgrowth of the former
Paine Webber brokerage business. The business was initially renamed
UBS Paine Webber
UBS Group AG is a multinational investment bank and financial services company founded and based in Switzerland. Co-headquartered in the cities of Zürich and Basel, it maintains a presence in all major financial centres as the largest Sw ...
in March 2001 after it was acquired by UBS. The division offers
wealth management
Wealth management (WM) or wealth management advisory (WMA) is an investment advisory service that provides financial management and wealth advisory services to a wide array of clients ranging from affluent to high-net-worth (HNW) and ultra-high- ...
advice for
ultra-high net worth and
high net worth clients. UBS was named "Best Bank for Wealth Management in North America" at the
Euromoney
''Euromoney'' is an English-language monthly magazine focused on business and finance. First published in 1969, it is the flagship production of Euromoney Institutional Investor plc.
History and profile
''Euromoney'' was first published in 19 ...
Awards for Excellence 2017.
UBS's main competitors in this division are
Bank of America
The Bank of America Corporation (often abbreviated BofA or BoA) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered at the Bank of America Corporate Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. The bank w ...
,
Credit Suisse
Credit Suisse Group AG is a global investment bank and financial services firm founded and based in Switzerland. Headquartered in Zürich, it maintains offices in all major financial centers around the world and is one of the nine global " ...
,
Morgan Stanley
Morgan Stanley is an American multinational investment management and financial services company headquartered at 1585 Broadway in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. With offices in more than 41 countries and more than 75,000 employees, the fir ...
,
JP Morgan Chase,
Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational financial services company with corporate headquarters in San Francisco, California; operational headquarters in Manhattan; and managerial offices throughout the United States and intern ...
and
Charles Schwab.
Personal & Corporate Banking
UBS's Personal & Corporate Banking division delivers financial products and services to retail, corporate and institutional clients in Switzerland.
It also provides stable and substantial profits for the Group and
revenue
In accounting, revenue is the total amount of income generated by the sale of goods and services related to the primary operations of the business.
Commercial revenue may also be referred to as sales or as turnover. Some companies receive reven ...
opportunities for businesses within the bank.
UBS maintains a leading position in the retail and corporate loan market in Switzerland; in fact, it serves one in three
pension fund
A pension fund, also known as a superannuation fund in some countries, is any plan, fund, or scheme which provides retirement income.
Pension funds typically have large amounts of money to invest and are the major investors in listed and priva ...
s, more than 85% of the 1,000 largest Swiss corporations and 85% of banks that resides within the nation.
In 2015, 2017 and 2018, the international financial magazine ''
Euromoney
''Euromoney'' is an English-language monthly magazine focused on business and finance. First published in 1969, it is the flagship production of Euromoney Institutional Investor plc.
History and profile
''Euromoney'' was first published in 19 ...
'' named UBS "Best Domestic Cash Manager Switzerland".
As of 31 December 2018, its lending portfolio reached US$131 billion.
The products that this UBS division offers range from
cash account
In business practice, cash account refers to a business-to-business or business-to-consumer account which is conducted on an immediate payment basis i.e. no credit is offered.
In accounting practice, "cash account" or "cash book" refers to a dayb ...
s, payments,
savings and retirement plans to
investment fund
An investment fund is a way of investing money alongside other investors in order to benefit from the inherent advantages of working as part of a group such as reducing the risks of the investment by a significant percentage. These advantages inc ...
products,
residential mortgages and advisory services.
This business division constitutes a central building block of UBS's universal bank delivery model in Switzerland and it supports other divisions, such as Investment Bank, by referring clients to them and by assisting them to build their wealth to a level at which they can be transferred to UBS Wealth Management.
The retail and corporate distribution network comprises not only 279 branches in Switzerland, but 1,250
teller machines and self-service terminals, as well as
digital banking services, serving 2.5 million personal banking clients.
UBS's main competitor in this division is
Credit Suisse
Credit Suisse Group AG is a global investment bank and financial services firm founded and based in Switzerland. Headquartered in Zürich, it maintains offices in all major financial centers around the world and is one of the nine global " ...
.
UBS Asset Management
![UBS Chicago North Wacker](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/21/UBS_Chicago_North_Wacker.jpg)
UBS
Asset Management
Asset management is a systematic approach to the governance and realization of value from the things that a group or entity is responsible for, over their whole life cycles. It may apply both to tangible assets (physical objects such as buildings ...
offers equity,
fixed income
Fixed income refers to any type of investment under which the borrower or issuer is obliged to make payments of a fixed amount on a fixed schedule. For example, the borrower may have to pay interest at a fixed rate once a year and repay the prin ...
,
currency
A currency, "in circulation", from la, currens, -entis, literally meaning "running" or "traversing" is a standardization of money in any form, in use or circulation as a medium of exchange, for example banknotes and coins.
A more general def ...
,
hedge fund
A hedge fund is a pooled investment fund that trades in relatively liquid assets and is able to make extensive use of more complex trading, portfolio-construction, and risk management techniques in an attempt to improve performance, such as sho ...
, global
real estate
Real estate is property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this (also) an item of real property, (more general ...
, infrastructure and
private equity
In the field of finance, the term private equity (PE) refers to investment funds, usually limited partnerships (LP), which buy and restructure financially weak companies that produce goods and provide services. A private-equity fund is both a ty ...
investment capabilities that can also be combined in multi-asset strategies.
The 1998 UBS-SBC merger and subsequent restructuring resulted in the combination of three major asset management operations: UBS Asset Management,
Phillips & Drew
Phillips & Drew was a large stockbroking partnership and company based in the City of London, England. It was fully acquired by the Union Bank of Switzerland in 1986, which itself merged with the Swiss Bank Corporation in 1998, to become UBS AG. ...
(owned by
Union Bank of Switzerland), and Brinson Partners (owned by SBC). The investment teams were merged in 2000 and in 2002 the brands were consolidated to become ''UBS Global Asset Management''.
At the end of December 2018, UBS Asset Management was responsible for US$781 billion of invested assets and the assets under administration were US$413 billion.
With around 2,300 employees in 23 countries, UBS Asset Management is the largest mutual fund manager in Switzerland, a leading fund house in Europe, and one of the largest fund of hedge funds, hedge funds and real estate investment managers in the world.
It has main offices in Chicago, Hong Kong,
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, New York City, New York, Singapore, Sydney, Tokyo, and
Zürich
Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...
.
With the aim to generate systematic products and services for clients, in 2017, UBS integrated Equities, Fixed Income and Solutions capabilities and hedge funds business within a new area named Investments. UBS also formed a new area of business named Real Estate and Private Markets by combining their Global Real Estate and Infrastructure and Private Equity businesses.
In February 2017, UBS Group AG and the Northern Trust, Northern Trust Corporation, an American international financial services company, announced an agreement for the acquisition of UBS Asset Management's fund administration servicing units in Luxembourg and
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
. This acquisition will facilitate the expansion of the Northern Trust Corporation into these two countries, turning the American company into the major fund administrator in the local markets and into one of the ten global leaders in the sector. At the end of the transaction, completed in October 2017, the American company will administrate a total of CHF 420 billion in assets. UBS Asset Management will continue anyway to offer Management Company, White Labelling and Representative Services to its clients. Ulrich Körner, president of the UBS Asset Management, affirms that the continuous transformation of their platform is due to a major efficiency, effectiveness and geographical dislocation of the services offered by the bank.
UBS's main competitors in this division are BlackRock, The Vanguard Group, Vanguard Group, State Street Global Advisors, State Street Global Advisers (SSGA), Fidelity Investments and Allianz Asset Management (AAM).
UBS Investment Bank
![StamfordCTUBSNorthAmericanHQ11112007](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6b/StamfordCTUBSNorthAmericanHQ11112007.jpg)
UBS Investment Bank provides services covering securities, other financial products, and research in Equity (finance), equities, rates, Credit (finance), credit, Foreign exchange market, foreign exchange, precious metals and Derivative (finance), derivatives. As of the end of December 2018, the personnel employed at UBS Investment Bank totalled 5,205, present in 33 countries (with principal offices in Chicago, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, London, New York, Shanghai, Singapore, Tokyo and Zurich).
This business division also advises and provides access to capital markets for corporate and institutional clients, governments, financial intermediaries, alternative asset managers, and private investors.
UBS Investment Bank was formerly known as UBS Warburg and as Warburg Dillon Read, before the merger of the
Union Bank of Switzerland and the
Swiss Bank Corporation (SBC). Within the UBS Investment Bank division, the Investment Banking Department (IBD) provides a range of advisory and underwriting services including mergers and acquisitions, restructuring, initial public offering, equity offerings, investment grade and high yield debt offerings, Leveraged buyout, leveraged finance and leveraged loan structuring, and the private placement of Equity (finance), equity, debt, and derivative (finance), derivatives.
The Sales & Trading division comprises equities (brokering, Broker-dealer, dealing, market maker, market making and engaging in proprietary trading in equity (finance), equities, equity-related products, equity derivatives, and structured products) and FX, Rates and Credit (FRC) (brokering, Broker-dealer, dealing, market maker, market making and engaging in proprietary trading in interest rate products, credit products, mortgage-backed security, mortgage-backed securities, leveraged loans, investment grade and high-yield debt, foreign exchange market, currencies, structured finance, structured products, and derivative products). Following an expansion in 2002, the trading floor covers with arched ceilings. Over US$1 trillion in assets are traded here every trading day. In June 2011, it was announced that UBS was considering moving its North American headquarters back to New York City, and that the bank was looking for office spaces in Midtown and in the rebuilt World Trade Center (2001-present), World Trade Center.
UBS's main competitors in this division are fellow members of the
Bulge Bracket, particularly
Goldman Sachs
Goldman Sachs () is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered at 200 West Street in Lower Manhattan, with regional headquarters in London, Warsaw, Bangalore, H ...
,
JPMorgan Chase
JPMorgan Chase & Co. is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered in New York City and incorporated in Delaware. As of 2022, JPMorgan Chase is the largest bank in the United States, the ...
, and Merrill Lynch.
The American division also offers its own credit card not sponsored by another bank unlike many of its competitors.
Competition
!['Occupy Paradeplatz' in Zürich 2011-10-22 15-36-16](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c5/%27Occupy_Paradeplatz%27_in_Z%C3%BCrich_2011-10-22_15-36-16.jpg)
On a global scale, UBS competes with the list of investment banks, largest global investment banks,
particularly within the
Bulge Bracket,
and is regularly compared against its fellow Swiss banking giant,
Credit Suisse
Credit Suisse Group AG is a global investment bank and financial services firm founded and based in Switzerland. Headquartered in Zürich, it maintains offices in all major financial centers around the world and is one of the nine global " ...
. According to a 2018 study published by Coalition Research Institute, UBS was among the top 10 of the world's investment banks.
* In
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
: UBS competes with a number of cantonal banks, such as Zurich Cantonal Bank, Zürcher Kantonalbank, Banque cantonale vaudoise, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise and other cantonal banks, as well as Raiffeisen Bank International, Raiffeisen, PostFinance, and the Migros Bank.
* In Europe: UBS competes with several larger banks, such as Deutsche Bank, HSBC Bank (Europe), HSBC, Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank, Crédit agricole, BNP Paribas, Natixis, Royal Bank of Scotland, Banco Santander, Santander and UniCredit.
* In the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
: UBS competes with the largest American banks, such as Citigroup,
Bank of America
The Bank of America Corporation (often abbreviated BofA or BoA) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered at the Bank of America Corporate Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. The bank w ...
,
Goldman Sachs
Goldman Sachs () is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered at 200 West Street in Lower Manhattan, with regional headquarters in London, Warsaw, Bangalore, H ...
,
JPMorgan Chase
JPMorgan Chase & Co. is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered in New York City and incorporated in Delaware. As of 2022, JPMorgan Chase is the largest bank in the United States, the ...
and
Morgan Stanley
Morgan Stanley is an American multinational investment management and financial services company headquartered at 1585 Broadway in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. With offices in more than 41 countries and more than 75,000 employees, the fir ...
.
History
The official founding date of the bank is April 1862, the year when its nucleus
Bank in Winterthur
The Bank in Winterthur is one of the original predecessor banks to the Union Bank of Switzerland and ultimately UBS. Established in 1862, the bank merged with Toggenburger Bank in 1912 to form the Union Bank of Switzerland.
History
The Bank in ...
was founded.
[Stadtgeschichte](_blank)
Der Landbote. Retrieved 23 October 2015 Although the merged company's new name was originally supposed to be the "United Bank of Switzerland," the officials opted to call it simply ''UBS'' because of a name clash with the separate Swiss company ''United Bank Switzerland'' – a part of the United Bank Limited's Swiss subsidiary. Therefore, UBS is no longer an acronym but ''is'' the company's brand. Its logo of three keys, carried over from SBC, stands for the company's values of confidence, security, and discretion.
Swiss Bank Corporation
UBS, through Swiss Bank Corporation, traces its history to 1854 when six private banking firms in
Basel
, french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese
, neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...
, Switzerland pooled their resources to form the ''Bankverein'', a consortium that acted as an underwriting syndicate for its member banks.
In 1871, the Bankverein coordinated with the German ''Frankfurter Bankverein'' to form the ''Basler Bankverein'', a
joint-stock
A joint-stock company is a business entity in which shares of the company's stock can be bought and sold by shareholders. Each shareholder owns company stock in proportion, evidenced by their shares (certificates of ownership). Shareholders are ...
company replacing the original Bankverein consortium.
After the new bank started with an initial commitment of CHF 30 million and CHF 6 million of share capital, it soon experienced growing pains when heavy losses in Germany caused it to suspend its dividend until 1879.
Following the years 1885 and 1886, when the bank merged with the Zürcher Bankverein and acquired the Basler Depositenbank and the Schweizerische Unionbank, it changed its name to ''Schweizerischer Bankverein''.
The English name of the bank was originally Swiss Bankverein, but was changed to Swiss Bank Corporation (SBC) in 1917.
[UBS AG History](_blank)
Funding Universe. Retrieved 21 March 2015
SBC subsequently experienced a period of growth, which was only interrupted by the onset of World War I, in which the bank lost investments in a number of large industrial companies. By the end of 1918, the bank had recovered and surpassed CHF 1 billion in total assets and grew to 2,000 employees by 1920. The impact of the stock market crash of 1929 and the Great Depression was severe, particularly as the Swiss franc suffered major devaluation in 1936. The bank saw its assets fall from a 1929 peak of CHF 1.6 billion to its 1918 levels of CHF 1 billion by 1936.
In 1937, SBC adopted its three-keys logo, designed by Warja Honegger-Lavater, symbolizing confidence, security, and discretion, which remains an integral part in the current-day logo of UBS.
On the eve of World War II in 1939, SBC, like other Swiss banks, was the recipient of large influxes of foreign funds for safekeeping. Just prior to the outbreak of the war, SBC made the timely decision to open an office in New York City. The office, located in the Equitable Building (Manhattan), Equitable Building, was able to begin operations a few weeks after the outbreak of the war and was intended as a safe place to store assets in the case of an invasion. During the war, the banks' traditional business fell off and the Swiss government became their largest client.
In 1945, SBC acquired the ''Basler Handelsbank'' (Commercial Bank of Basel), which was one of the largest banks in Switzerland, but became Insolvency, insolvent by the end of the war. SBC remained among the Swiss government's leading underwriters of debt in the post-war years. SBC, which had entered the 1950s with 31 branch offices in Switzerland and three abroad, more than doubled its assets from the end of the war to CHF 4 billion by the end of the 1950s and doubled assets again in the mid-1960s, exceeding CHF 10 billion by 1965.
In 1961, SBC acquired ''Banque Populaire Valaisanne'', based in Sion, Switzerland, and the ''Banque Populaire de Sierre''.
The bank opened a full branch office in Tokyo in 1970.
![St](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/96/St._Gall_office_of_Swiss_Bank_Corporation_%28UBS%29c.1920.png)
In 1992, SBC acquired O'Connor & Associates, a Chicago-based Option (finance), options trading firm and the largest
market maker
A market maker or liquidity provider is a company or an individual that quotes both a buy and a sell price in a tradable asset held in inventory, hoping to make a profit on the ''bid–ask spread'', or ''turn.'' The benefit to the firm is that it ...
in the financial options exchanges in the U.S.
O'Connor was combined with SBC's money market, capital market, and currency market activities to form a globally integrated capital markets and Treasury management, treasury operation.
In 1994, SBC acquired Brinson Partners, an asset management firm focused on providing access for U.S. institutions to global markets, for US$750 million.
[SBC Warburg Company History](_blank)
Funding Universe. Retrieved 21 March 2015 Following the acquisition, founder Gary P. Brinson ran SBC's asset management business and later when SBC merged with UBS was named chief investment officer of UBS Asset Management. The acquisition of S. G. Warburg & Co., S.G. Warburg & Co., a leading British investment banking firm, in 1995 for the price of US$1.4 billion signified a major push into investment banking. S.G. Warburg & Co. had established a reputation as a daring merchant bank that grew to be one of the most respected investment banks in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
. However, a Warburg expansion into the U.S. had turned out flawed and costly, and talks in 1994 with
Morgan Stanley
Morgan Stanley is an American multinational investment management and financial services company headquartered at 1585 Broadway in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. With offices in more than 41 countries and more than 75,000 employees, the fir ...
about a merger had collapsed. SBC merged the firm with its own existing investment banking unit to create SBC Warburg.
Two years later, in 1997, SBC paid US$600 million to acquire Dillon, Read & Co., a U.S. bulge bracket investment bank.
Dillon, Read & Co., which traced its roots to the 1830s, was among the powerhouse firms on Wall Street in the 1920s and 1930s, and by the 1990s had a particularly strong mergers and acquisitions advisory group. Dillon Read had been in negotiations to sell itself to ING Group, ING, which owned 25% of the firm already, but Dillon Read partners balked at ING Group, ING's integration plans.
After its acquisition by SBC, Dillon Read was merged with SBC-Warburg to create SBC-Warburg Dillon Read. Following SBC's later merger with
Union Bank of Switzerland, the SBC part was dropped from the name; in 2000 when the new UBS got restructured the Dillon Read name was dropped, although it was brought back in 2005 as Dillon, Read & Co., Dillon Read Capital Management, UBS's ill-fated hedge fund operations.
Union Bank of Switzerland
The Union Bank of Switzerland emerged in 1912 when the
Bank in Winterthur
The Bank in Winterthur is one of the original predecessor banks to the Union Bank of Switzerland and ultimately UBS. Established in 1862, the bank merged with Toggenburger Bank in 1912 to form the Union Bank of Switzerland.
History
The Bank in ...
fused with the
Toggenburger Bank
Toggenburger Bank is one of the original predecessor banks to the Union Bank of Switzerland and ultimately UBS. Established in 1863, the bank merged with the Bank in Winterthur in 1912 to form the Union Bank of Switzerland.
History
In 1863, the ...
. The Bank in Winterthur, founded in 1862 with an initial share capital of CHF 5 million, focused on providing financing for industry and other companies,
and had profited considerably from its close railroad connections and large warehousing facilities during the American Civil War when cotton prices rose dramatically.
The Toggenburger Bank was founded in 1863 with an initial share capital of CHF 1.5 million,
and specialized as a
savings and Mortgage loan, mortgage bank for individual customers, maintaining a branch office network in eastern Switzerland.
The new company was initially traded under the English name ''Swiss Banking Association'', but in 1921 it was changed to Union Bank of Switzerland (UBS) to mirror its French name, ''Union de Banques Suisses''. In German, the bank was known as the ''Schweizerische Bankgesellschaft'' (SBG).
The combined bank had total assets of CHF 202 million and a total Equity (finance), shareholders' equity of CHF 46 million.
In 1917, UBS completed the construction of a new headquarters in Zurich on Bahnhofstrasse, considered to be the Wall Street of Switzerland.
By 1923, offices were established throughout Switzerland.
Although the bank suffered in the aftermath of World War I and the Great Depression, it was able to make several smaller Takeover, acquisitions; in 1937 it established Intrag AG, an
asset management
Asset management is a systematic approach to the governance and realization of value from the things that a group or entity is responsible for, over their whole life cycles. It may apply both to tangible assets (physical objects such as buildings ...
business responsible for investment trusts, (i.e. mutual funds).
The activities of the Union Bank of Switzerland during World War II were not publicly known until decades after the war, when it was demonstrated that UBS likely took active roles in trading stolen gold, Security (finance), securities, and other assets during World War II.
[Swiss Were Part of Nazi Economic Lifeline, Historians Find](_blank)
''The New York Times'', 2 December 2001 The issue of "unclaimed property" of Holocaust victims became a major issue for UBS in the mid-1990s, and a series of revelations in 1997 brought the issue to the forefront of national attention in 1996 and 1997.
[Swiss Envoy in U.S. in Midst of a Squall](_blank)
''The New York Times'', 20 January 1997 UBS confirmed that a large number of accounts had gone unclaimed as a result of the bank's policy of requiring death certificates from family members to claim the contents of the account.
''The New York Times'', 1 August 1997 UBS's handling of these revelations were largely criticized and the bank received significant negative attention in the U.S.
''The New York Times'', 26 January 1997
''The New York Times'', 3 August 1997 UBS came under significant pressure, particularly from American politicians, to compensate Holocaust survivors who were making claims against the bank.
''The New York Times'', 10 October 1997
![Bahnhofstrasse_Zürich_1920](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ac/Bahnhofstrasse_Z%C3%BCrich_1920.jpg)
Shortly after the end of World War II, Union Bank of Switzerland completed the Takeover, acquisition of the ''Eidgenössische Bank'', a large Zürich-based bank that became Insolvency, insolvent. As a result of the merger, Union Bank of Switzerland exceeded CHF 1 billion in assets and moved its operations to Zürich. UBS opened branches and acquired a series of banks in Switzerland in the following years, growing from 31 offices in 1950 to 81 offices by the early 1960s.
In 1960, Union Bank of Switzerland acquired an 80% stake in Argor SA, a Swiss precious metals refinery founded in 1951 in the Ticino, canton of Ticino.
UBS continues to issue gold bars via Argor-Heraeus which is famous for the unique kinebar holographic technology it uses to provide enhanced protection against bank gold bar counterfeiting.
By 1962, Union Bank of Switzerland reached CHF 6.96 billion of assets, narrowly edging ahead of
Swiss Bank Corporation to become the largest bank in Switzerland.
[Offer Made to Create Largest Swiss Bank Group](_blank)
''The New York Times'', 6 January 1993 The rapid growth was punctuated by the 1967 acquisition of Interhandel, which made UBS one of the strongest banks in Europe.
By the 1980s, Union Bank of Switzerland established a position as a leading European underwriter of Eurobond (international), Eurobonds.
Following two major acquisitions in 1986 (
Phillips & Drew
Phillips & Drew was a large stockbroking partnership and company based in the City of London, England. It was fully acquired by the Union Bank of Switzerland in 1986, which itself merged with the Swiss Bank Corporation in 1998, to become UBS AG. ...
and Deutsche Länderbank), UBS made its first purchase in the United States in 1991 with Chase Investors Management Corporation, the
asset management
Asset management is a systematic approach to the governance and realization of value from the things that a group or entity is responsible for, over their whole life cycles. It may apply both to tangible assets (physical objects such as buildings ...
business of Chase Manhattan Bank.
At the time of the acquisition, the business managed in excess of US$30 billion in assets. The bank's investments had been in the conservative asset management and life insurance businesses; further, 60% of the bank's profits came from its even more conservative Swiss banking operations.
[UBS Banks on Conservative Strategies --- Industry Leader Avoids Troubles That Have Snared Main Swiss Rivals. Wall Street Journal, 1 June 1993] In 1993,
Credit Suisse
Credit Suisse Group AG is a global investment bank and financial services firm founded and based in Switzerland. Headquartered in Zürich, it maintains offices in all major financial centers around the world and is one of the nine global " ...
outbid Union Bank of Switzerland for Switzerland's ''Swiss Volksbank'', the fifth largest bank in Switzerland which had run into financial difficulties in the early 1990s.
The acquisition propelled Credit Suisse ahead of Union Bank of Switzerland as the largest bank in Switzerland for the first time. Prior to the merger with Swiss Bank Corporation, UBS purchased a group of smaller Swiss banks in 1994 including the Cantonal Bank of Appenzell-Ausserrhoden in 1996,
and in 1997 Schröder, Münchmeyer, Hengst & Co. from Lloyds Bank (historic), Lloyds Bank was acquired to improve access to the German investment banking and private wealth management markets.
[UBS buys Lloyds TSB's stake in SMH for pounds 100m](_blank)
''The Independent'' (London), 27 August 1997
Merger of Union Bank of Switzerland and Swiss Bank Corporation: 1998
During the mid-1990s, Union Bank of Switzerland came under fire from dissident shareholders critical of its conservative management and lower return on equity. Martin Ebner, through his investment trust, BK Vision, became the largest shareholder in Union Bank of Switzerland and attempted to force a major restructuring of the bank's operations. Looking to take advantage of the situation,
Credit Suisse
Credit Suisse Group AG is a global investment bank and financial services firm founded and based in Switzerland. Headquartered in Zürich, it maintains offices in all major financial centers around the world and is one of the nine global " ...
approached Union Bank of Switzerland about a merger that would have created the second largest bank in the world in 1996. Union Bank of Switzerland's management and board unanimously rebuffed the proposed merger. Ebner, who supported the idea of a merger, led a shareholder revolt that resulted in the replacement of Union Bank of Switzerland's chairman, Robert Studer with Mathis Cabiallavetta, one of the key architects of the merger with
Swiss Bank Corporation.
On 8 December 1997, Union Bank of Switzerland and
Swiss Bank Corporation announced an all-stock merger. At the time of the merger, Union Bank of Switzerland and Swiss Bank Corporation were the second and third largest banks in Switzerland, respectively.
Discussions between the two banks had begun several months earlier, less than a year after rebuffing Credit Suisse's merger overtures. The merger resulted in the creation of UBS AG, a new bank with total assets of more than US$590 billion, the largest of its kind.
[2 of the Big 3 Swiss Banks To Join to Seek Global Heft](_blank)
''The New York Times'', 9 December 1997 During the merger, UBS chairman Marcel Ospel originally wanted to call the company "United Bank of Switzerland", but settled on simply using "UBS" following the acquisition of American brokerage firm,
Paine Webber.
Colloquially referred to as the "New UBS" to distinguish itself from the former Union Bank of Switzerland, the combined bank became the second largest in the world at the time, behind only the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi.
Additionally, the merger pulled together the banks' various asset management businesses to create the world's largest money manager, with approximately US$910 billion in assets under management.
Union Bank of Switzerland's Mathis Cabiallavetta became chairman of the new bank while Swiss Bank's Marcel Ospel was named chief executive officer.
Nearly 80% of the top management positions were filled by legacy Swiss Bank professionals.
Prior to the merger,
Swiss Bank Corporation was considered to be further along than Union Bank of Switzerland in developing its international investment banking business, particularly in the higher margin advisory businesses where Warburg Dillon Read was considered to be the more established platform.
[Performance Of New Bank Relies on U.S.](_blank)
9 December. 1997 Union Bank of Switzerland had a stronger retail and commercial banking business in Switzerland, while both banks had strong asset management capabilities.
After the merger was completed, it was speculated that a series of losses suffered by UBS on its equity derivative positions in late 1997 was a contributing factor in pushing UBS management to consummate the merger.
Paine Webber and international expansion: 2000–2006
On 3 November 2000, UBS merged with
Paine Webber, an American brokerage firm, stock brokerage and asset management firm led by chairman and CEO Donald B. Marron Sr., Donald Marron. At the time of its merger with UBS, Paine Webber had emerged as the fourth largest private client firm in the United States with 385 offices employing 8,554 brokers. The acquisition pushed UBS to the top wealth and asset management firm in the world. Initially, the business was given the divisional name ''UBS PaineWebber'' but in 2003 the 123-year-old name Paine Webber disappeared when it was renamed ''UBS Wealth Management USA''.
[Advertising: Introducing UBS PaineWebber, Post Merger](_blank)
''The New York Times'', 5 March 2001 UBS took a CHF 1 billion write-down for the loss of Goodwill (accounting), goodwill associated with the retirement of the
Paine Webber brand when it integrated its brands under the unified UBS name in 2003.
John P. Costas (business), John P. Costas, a former bond trader and co-head of Fixed income at Credit Suisse First Boston and head of Fixed Income Trading at Union Bank of Switzerland in 1998, was appointed CEO of UBS's investment banking division, which originated in SBC's Warburg Dillon Read division and was renamed UBS Warburg in December 2001.
In an attempt to break into the elite bulge bracket of investment banks, in which UBS then had little success while rival
Credit Suisse
Credit Suisse Group AG is a global investment bank and financial services firm founded and based in Switzerland. Headquartered in Zürich, it maintains offices in all major financial centers around the world and is one of the nine global " ...
was establishing itself as a major player on Wall Street with the acquisition of Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette in 2000, Costas shifted the growth strategy from acquiring entire firms to hiring individual investment bankers or teams of bankers from rival firms.
Costas had followed a similar approach in building out the UBS fixed income business, hiring over 500 sales and trading personnel and increasing
revenue
In accounting, revenue is the total amount of income generated by the sale of goods and services related to the primary operations of the business.
Commercial revenue may also be referred to as sales or as turnover. Some companies receive reven ...
s from US$300 million in 1998 to over US$3 billion by 2001.
![Opernturm (UBS) und Alte Oper Frankfurt-2012-Ffm-b](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/14/Opernturm_%28UBS%29_und_Alte_Oper_Frankfurt-2012-Ffm-b.jpg)
The arrival of former Drexel Burnham Lambert investment banker Ken Moelis marked a major coup for Costas. Moelis joined UBS from Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette in 2001 shortly after its acquisition by Credit Suisse First Boston (although Huw Jenkins claimed he had hired Moelis to the UK Parliamentary Banking commission while under oath, which is patently false). In his six years at UBS, Moelis ultimately assumed the role of president of UBS Investment Bank and was credited, along with Costas, with the build-out of UBS's investment banking operation in the United States.
Within weeks of joining, Moelis brought over a team of 70 bankers from Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette.
Costas and Moelis hired more than 30 senior U.S. bankers from 2001 through 2004.
It was estimated that UBS spent as much as US$600 million to US$700 million hiring top bankers in the U.S. during this three-year period. Among the bank's other major recruits during this period were Olivier Sarkozy, Ben Lorello, Blair Effron, and Jeff McDermott.
By 2003, UBS had risen to fourth place from seventh in global investment banking fees, earning US$2.1 billion of the US$39 billion paid to investment banks that year, increasing 33%.
Over the next four years, UBS consistently ranked in the top 4 in the global fee pool and established a track record of 20 consecutive quarters of rising profits.
In 2006, UBS set up a joint venture in China (see UBS Securities, China branch). However, by the end of 2006, UBS began to experience changing fortunes. In late 2005, Costas headed a new
hedge fund
A hedge fund is a pooled investment fund that trades in relatively liquid assets and is able to make extensive use of more complex trading, portfolio-construction, and risk management techniques in an attempt to improve performance, such as sho ...
unit within UBS known as Dillon Read Capital Management. His former position was taken over by Huw Jenkins, a long-time legacy UBS investment banker.
In 2006, UBS bankers Blair Effron and Michael Martin announced their departures.
In March 2007, Moelis announced that he was leaving the company, and shortly thereafter founded a new business, Moelis & Company.
[Prominent UBS Executive to Leave](_blank)
''The New York Times'', 19 March 2007 As he had when joining UBS, Moelis took a large team of senior UBS investment bankers. Moelis's departure was caused primarily by repeated conflict over the availability of capital from the bank's balance sheet to pursue large Financial transaction, transactions, particularly leveraged buyouts.
The bank's apparent conservatism would be turned on its head when large losses were reported in various mortgage securities rather than corporate loans that generated investment banking fees. After Moelis, other notable departures included investment banking co-head Jeff McDermott in early 2007 and, as the financial crisis set in, other high-profile bankers such as Oliver Sarkozy in early 2008 and Ben Lorello in 2009.
![UBSentrance](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/UBSentrance.jpg)
UBS was fined $100 million by the Federal Reserve, FED in 2004 for trading in dollars with Iran and other sanctioned countries.
Subprime mortgage crisis and recovery: 2007–2009
At the beginning of 2007, UBS became the first Wall Street firm to announce a heavy loss in the Subprime lending, subprime mortgage sector as the subprime mortgage crisis began to develop. In May 2007, UBS announced the closure of its Dillon, Read & Co., Dillon Read Capital Management (DRCM) division. Although in 2006, DCRM had generated a profit for the bank of US$720 million, after UBS took over DRCM's positions in May 2007, losses grew from the US$124 million recorded by DRCM, ultimately to "16% of the US$19 billion in losses UBS recorded." The UBS investment bank continued to expand Subprime lending, subprime risk in the second quarter of 2007 while most market participants were reducing risk, resulting in not only expanding DRCM losses but creating the 84% of the other losses experienced by the bank.
In response to the growing series of problems at UBS, and possibly his role in spearheading Costas' departure from the bank, Peter Wuffli unexpectedly stepped down as CEO of the firm during the second quarter of 2007. Wuffli would be joined by many of his fellow managers in the next year, most notably the bank's chairman Marcel Ospel. However, the bank's problems continued through the end of 2007, when the bank reported its first quarterly loss in over five years. As its losses Endangerment, jeopardized the bank's capital position, UBS quickly raised US$11.5 billion of capital in December 2007, US$9.7 billion of which came from the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC) and US$1.8 billion from an unnamed Middle Eastern investor.
![Juso Schweiz Demonstration gegen UBS-Boni](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/98/Juso_Schweiz_Demonstration_gegen_UBS-Boni.jpg)
After a significant expansion of
fixed income
Fixed income refers to any type of investment under which the borrower or issuer is obliged to make payments of a fixed amount on a fixed schedule. For example, the borrower may have to pay interest at a fixed rate once a year and repay the prin ...
risk during 2006 and 2007 under the leadership of Huw Jenkins, the UBS Investment Bank CEO, the bank's losses continued to mount in 2008 when UBS announced in April 2008 that it was writing down a further US$19 billion of investments in Subprime lending, subprime and other mortgage assets.
By this point, UBS's total losses in the mortgage market were in excess of US$37 billion, the largest such losses of any of its peers. In response to its losses, UBS announced a CHF 15 billion rights offering to raise the additional funds need to shore up its depleted reserves of capital. UBS cut its dividend in order to protect its traditionally high Tier 1 capital ratio, seen by investors as a key to its credibility as the world's largest wealth management company. In October 2008, UBS announced that it had placed CHF 6 billion of new capital, through mandatory convertible notes, with Swiss Confederation. The Swiss National Bank and UBS made an agreement to transfer approximately US$60 billion of currently illiquid securities and various assets from UBS to a separate fund entity. In November 2008, UBS put US$6 billion of equity into the new "bad bank" entity, keeping only an option to benefit if the value of its assets were to recover. Heralded as a "neat" package by ''The New York Times'', the UBS structure guaranteed clarity for UBS investors by making an outright sale. UBS announced in February 2009 that it had lost nearly CHF 20 billion (US$17.2 billion) in 2008, the biggest single-year loss of any company in Swiss history. Since the beginning of the financial crisis in 2007, UBS has written down more than US$50 billion from subprime mortgage investments and cut more than 11,000 jobs.
By the spring of 2009, UBS announced another management restructuring and initiated a plan to return to profitability. Jerker Johansson, the head of the investment bank division, resigned in April 2009 and was replaced by Alex Wilmot-Sitwell and Carsten Kengeter. At the same time, UBS announced the planned cut of 8,700 jobs and had implemented a new compensation plan. Under the plan, no more than one-third of any cash bonus would be paid out in the year it is earned with the rest to be held in reserve and stock-based incentives that would vest after three years. In April 2009, UBS announced that it agreed to sell its Brazilian financial services business, UBS Pactual, for approximately US$2.5 billion to BTG Investments.
![UBS (18707986273)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a1/UBS_%2818707986273%29.jpg)
The Swiss government sold its CHF 6 billion stake in UBS in late 2008 at a large profit; Switzerland had purchased convertible notes in 2008 to help UBS clear its balance sheets of toxic assets. Taking advantage of improved conditions in the stock market in mid-2009, UBS placed US$3.5 billion of shares with a small number of large institutional investors. Oswald Grübel announced, "We are building a new UBS, one that performs to the highest standards and behaves with integrity and honesty; one that distinguishes itself not only through the clarity and reliability of the advice and services it provides but in how it manages and executes." Grübel reiterated plans to maintain an integrated business model of providing wealth management advisory, investment banking, and asset management services.
Shift to private banking and market reemergence: 2010–present
In August 2010, UBS launched a new advertising campaign featuring the slogan: "We will not rest" and signed a global sponsorship agreement with Formula One, Formula 1. On 26 October 2010, UBS announced that its private bank recorded net new funds of CHF 900 million during the third quarter, compared to an outflow of CHF 5.5 billion in second quarter. UBS's third quarter net profit of US$1.65 billion beat analyst estimates, continuing a string of profitability. After the elimination of almost 5,000 jobs, UBS announced on 23 August 2011 that it was further cutting another 3,500 positions in order to "improve operating efficiency" and save CHF 1.5 to CHF 2 billion a year. 45 percent of the job cuts would come from the investment banking unit, which continued to post dismal figures since the 2008 financial crisis, while the rest would come from the wealth management and asset management divisions. The firm has seen profits fall due to the rise of the Swiss franc.
On 15 September 2011, UBS became aware of a massive loss, originally estimated at US$2 billion, allegedly due to unauthorized trading by Kweku Adoboli, a then 31-year-old Ghanaian trader on the Delta One desk of the firm's investment bank. Adoboli was arrested and later charged with fraud by abuse of position and false accounting dating as far back as 2008. UBS's actual losses were subsequently confirmed as US$2.3 billion, and according to the prosecutor in Adoboli's trial he "was a gamble or two from destroying Switzerland's largest bank for his own benefit." On 24 September 2011 UBS announced chief executive Oswald Grübel's resignation, and the appointment of Sergio Ermotti as his replacement on an interim basis.
![- panoramio (4612)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9e/-_panoramio_%284612%29.jpg)
On 30 October 2012, UBS announced that it was cutting 10,000 jobs worldwide in an effort to slim down its investment banking operations, of which 2,500 would be in
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
, followed by the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
and Great Britain. This 15-percent staff cut would make overall staff count come down from 63,745 to 54,000. (For comparison, the peak employment level in 2007 before the 2008 financial crisis was 83,500).
UBS also announced that the investment bank would focus on its traditional strengths and exit much of its fixed income trading business that was not economically profitable. On 19 December 2012, UBS was fined $1.5 billion for its role in the Libor scandal
over accusations that it tried to rig benchmark interest rates. In November 2014, regulators including the FCA and CFTC hit UBS with fines, along with other banks, for Forex scandal, currency manipulation. On 6 January 2014, it was reported that UBS had become the largest private banker in the world, with $1.7 trillion in assets. In May 2015, media reports revealed UBS is planning to sell its Australian private banking division to some of its management after a review of underperforming businesses was conducted at the company.
In late 2016, the bank created the digital currency "Utility Settlement Coin" (USC) to accelerate Billing and settlement plan, inter-bank settlements and established a
blockchain technology research laboratory in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
.
From 2012 to 2018, the investment bank, led by Andrea Orcel, initiated a major restructuring, firing over 10,000 employees and focusing on European
underwriting
Underwriting (UW) services are provided by some large financial institutions, such as banks, insurance companies and investment houses, whereby they guarantee payment in case of damage or financial loss and accept the financial risk for liabilit ...
business instead of traditional dealmaking.
UBS announced in January 2018 that it does not trade or expose clients to Cryptocurrency, cryptocurrencies as it believes they have little to no Elasticity (economics), elasticity, and are Economic bubble, speculatively valued.
It partnered with technology company IBM to launch a blockchain trade finance platform called "Batavia" in early 2018.
In April 2021, UBS reported a $774 million loss from the collapse of US investment fund Archegos Capital Management.
In July 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic, UBS announced it would continue to allow for flextime and remote work by many employees, noting that they did not impede productivity. The announcement distinguished the bank from its competitors, such as
Morgan Stanley
Morgan Stanley is an American multinational investment management and financial services company headquartered at 1585 Broadway in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. With offices in more than 41 countries and more than 75,000 employees, the fir ...
and
Goldman Sachs
Goldman Sachs () is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered at 200 West Street in Lower Manhattan, with regional headquarters in London, Warsaw, Bangalore, H ...
, which pressured on employees to return to the office as COVID-19 lockdowns and measures eased.
In January 2022, UBS agreed to acquire Wealthfront for $1.4 billion.
UBS expects to accelerate its growth in the US with the purchase, and will operate Wealthfront as a business within UBS Global Wealth Management.
The acquisition was mutually terminated in September 2022 with both companies not providing a reason.
UBS announced that it would instead invest in a $69.7million note convertible into Wealthfront shares, valuing the latter at its acquisition price.
In November 2022, Fang Xinghai, vice chairperson of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, made remarks by prerecorded video to the Global Financial Leaders' Investment Summit.
In it, he warned investors to not read too much foreign news (international media) about China, and said that some international investors read "too much" of it.
Later at the Summit, Colm Kelleher said, regarding global bankers, that "we're all very pro-China," and in reference to Fang's comments, said "We're not reading the American press, we actually buy the [China] story."
Acquisition history
As it exists today, UBS represents a conglomeration of dozens of individual firms, many of which date back to the 19th century. Over the years, these firms merged to form the bank's three major predecessors,
Union Bank of Switzerland,
Swiss Bank Corporation, ICO Markets Exchange Clearing Limited and
Paine Webber. The following is a visual illustration of the company's major mergers and acquisitions and historical predecessors, although this is not necessarily a comprehensive list:
Corporate governance
Senior leadership
* ''Chairman:'' Colm Kelleher (since April 2022)
* ''Chief Executive:'' Ralph Hamers (since November 2020)
List of former chairmen
# Mathis Cabiallavetta (1998)
# Alex Krauer (1998–2001)
# Marcel Ospel (2001–2008)
# Peter Kurer (2008–2009)
# Kaspar Villiger (2009–2012)
# Axel A. Weber, Axel Weber (2012–2022)
List of former chief executives
# Marcel Ospel (1998–2001)
# Peter Wuffli (2001–2007)
# Marcel Rohner (banker), Marcel Rohner (2007–2009)
# Oswald Grübel (2009–2011)
# Sergio Ermotti (2011–2020)
Shareholders
![Frankfurter-Opernturm-2012-Ffm-916](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/87/Frankfurter-Opernturm-2012-Ffm-916.jpg)
As disclosed under the Swiss Stock exchange Act, the most significant shareholders of UBS are GIC Private Limited with 7.07%, BlackRock, BlackRock Inc with 4.98%, Norges Bank with 3.30%, MFS Investment Management with 3.05% and Capital Group Companies with 3.01% of total share capital.
In 2008 during the subprime mortgage crisis, GIC Private Limited invested CHF 11 billion into UBS to help bail it out, thus becoming the largest single shareholder.
Additionally, the UBS Group AG disclosed shareholders registered in their share register with 3% or more of shares issued. As of 30 September 2017, these are Chase Nominees Ltd, DTC (Cede & Co.) and Nortrust Nominees Ltd with 10.32%, 6.63% and 4.04% of total share capital respectively.
As of 30 June 2019, shareholdings of the Group were distributed as follows:
Banking secrecy
UBS frequently cites Culture of Switzerland, Swiss culture—specifically its penchant for privacy, Swiss neutrality, security and neutrality—as foundational to its company culture.
Although Banking in Switzerland#Banking secrecy, banking secrecy started in the 1700s, Switzerland drafted a series of banking regulations and statutes the late 1800s and 1930s to protect and secure banks within its borders.
[Juliette Garside]
"HSBC files: how a 1934 Swiss law enshrined secrecy,"
The Guardian (Sunday 8 February 2015). Retrieved 10 February 2015 The most prominent was the Federal Act on Banks and Savings Banks, known simply as the "Banking Law of 1934".
The federal law prohibits and criminalizes the distribution and release of client information to third parties.
The bill was passed by the Federal Assembly (Switzerland), Swiss Federal Assembly in order to combat the seizure of client assets and information for Banking in Switzerland#History, reasons debated by historians.
UBS, then known as the
Swiss Bank Corporation, received large influxes of capital from Europe for safe keeping during the war.
More than List of Swiss financial market legislation, two dozen Swiss banking statutes were drafted from 1934 to 2008 to strengthen banking secrecy at UBS Switzerland AG.
In 2018, Switzerland, alongside major Swiss banks including UBS, was ranked first on the
Financial Secrecy Index
The Financial Secrecy Index (FSI) is a report published by the advocacy organization Tax Justice Network (TJN) which ranks countries by ''financial secrecy indicators'', weighted by the economic flows of each country.
It looks at how wealthy ...
.
UBS was the largest wealth manager in 23 of the top 25 countries on the 2018 Financial Secrecy Index.
While UBS maintains the strictest banking secrecy policies in Switzerland, its policies across Europe and especially the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
are comparable.
Within the U.S., the bank is prohibited from disclosing client activities and information both internally and through regulation imposed by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), Federal Reserve System, Federal Reserve, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), United States Department of the Treasury, U.S. Treasury, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and various U.S. state regulators.
UBS employees are prohibited from discussing client activity or information publicly, sharing information across borders, retaining client information insecurely and required to maintain robust bank-client confidentiality agreements.
In 2018, UBS operations within the U.S. were ranked second on the Financial Secrecy Index, following UBS Switzerland AG.
Within the European Union (E.U.), UBS operations maintain similar banking secrecy policies to Switzerland in the following countries and crown dependencies: Jersey, Austria, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Monaco, and the Isle of Man.
Substantial, albeit greatly reduced, banking secrecy provisions are afforded to UBS operations in France, Germany, Ireland, and the Netherlands.
Hidden assets
UBS, along with other Swiss banks, maintains a variety of hidden assets and numbered bank accounts in an effort to preserve anonymity and confidentiality.
Despite its name, hidden accounts are not truly hidden.
The usage of these types of accounts (and assets) limits the knowledge of the account between the client and a restricted number of private bankers who retain record of who the account belongs to.
In January 1997, Christoph Meili, a night guard at the Union Bank of Switzerland (precursor of UBS) in
Zürich
Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...
, publicly announced that bank officials were destroying documents about orphaned assets, believed to be the credit balances of both Nazi German and Jewish clients attained during World War II.
Soon after, Zurich authorities opened a judicial investigation against Meili for suspected violations of the Swiss laws on banking secrecy.
[Bundesgesetz über die Banken und Sparkassen (Bankengesetz, BankG), Swiss Law:, Article 47 (in German)](_blank)
Accessed 21 March 2015. After a
US$
The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...
2.56 billion lawsuit was filed against UBS and other Swiss banks on behalf of the Holocaust victims, Jewish victims of the Holocaust, a settlement was reached that totalled US$1.25 billion in August 1998.
![UBS Office Door](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ef/UBS_Office_Door.png)
The Federal Council (Switzerland), Swiss government has taken steps to curb the usage of hidden services by foreign account holders as they have been frequently used to facilitate the transfer of "Black market, black money".
In May 2013, Switzerland announced that it would amend certain banking secrecy laws applicable to UBS Switzerland AG to allow the disclosure of hidden client accounts to various investigative authorities.
However, the disclosure of such information is heavily regulated and only "occur exclusively within the scope of administrative assistance procedures based on a valid double taxation agreement."
Bank vaults and bunkers
UBS, along with other Swiss banks, owns and operates undisclosed or otherwise secretive bank vaults, storage facilities or Bunker, underground bunkers for gold bars, diamonds, cash, or other valuable physical assets.
The geographical location of these facilities are undisclosed to the public but are known to be present in the mountainous regions of the
Swiss Alps
The Alpine region of Switzerland, conventionally referred to as the Swiss Alps (german: Schweizer Alpen, french: Alpes suisses, it, Alpi svizzere, rm, Alps svizras), represents a major natural feature of the country and is, along with the Swiss ...
.
These facilities are not subject to the List of Swiss financial market legislation, same banking regulations as Banking in Switzerland, banks in Switzerland and do not have to report holdings to regulatory agencies.
According to the Swiss Armed Forces, UBS purchased four former Bunker, military bunkers to convert into storage facilities throughout the 1980s and 1990s.
Three of these bunkers are not accessible by road or foot and require aircraft transportation.
The transfer of assets to these bunkers is selective as a multi-stage security clearance is required and is not available to all UBS clients.
In special circumstances, UBS contracts smaller banks in Canton of Ticino, Southern Switzerland to maintain company assets.
The largest disclosed Swiss bank vault is five floors () under the bank's Geneva headquarters. In July 2013, UBS established a gold storage facility and depository in Singapore for high net worth and ultra high net worth clients in their Hong Kong, China, and Malaysia markets who are willing to pay high fees and commissions for the highest level of secrecy and safety for their assets.
Tax evasion
The strict banking secrecy policies and bank-client Non-disclosure agreement, confidentiality agreements at UBS have frequently been used to avoid, evade or otherwise Tax evasion, escape foreign direct taxation. UBS reached Multilateral treaty, multilateral agreements with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and U.K. HM Revenue and Customs in 2009 and 2010, respectively. These agreements ensured a line of communication between the tax agencies and all registered Swiss banks.
The most commonly used stipulation triggered by select UBS Switzerland AG clients regard List of Swiss financial market legislation, the following statute: Swiss banks are only allowed to disclose client information if a client is Criminal charge, legally charged with proof of deliberate Financial crime, financial fraud, not merely the Income statement, non-reporting of assets to avoid taxation.
The banking privacy policies of UBS have led to numerous controversies and disagreements with foreign governments:
![Cour_de_Cassation,_Paris_140320_1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/31/Cour_de_Cassation%2C_Paris_140320_1.jpg)
* In 2007, Bradley Birkenfeld, a Geneva-based employee who worked in the bank's North American wealth management business, claimed that UBS's dealings with American clients violated an agreement between the bank and the U.S. Internal Revenue Service.
He subsequently complained to UBS compliance officials about the bank's "unfair and deceptive business practices", which included sponsoring events like yacht races and art festivals in the United States to attract wealthy people as potential clients. UBS was charged by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation and ordered it to cease providing cross-border private banking services to US-domiciled clients through its non-US regulated units as of July 2008.
* In 2012, the Politics of Germany, German government saw to it that UBS Deutschland AG came under investigation by prosecutors in Mannheim, Germany, after a tax probe revealed suspicious funds transfers from Germany to Switzerland allegedly facilitated by the bank's Frankfurt office.
UBS Deutschland's Frankfurt office was raided by tax investigators in May 2012, and over 100,000 computer files and records were seized for evidence. The bank, which claims it is cooperating with the investigators, said that "an internal investigation into the specific allegations has not identified any evidence of misbehaviour by UBS Deutschland AG."
* In 2014, the Government of France, French government launched an investigation into UBS France's alleged abetting of tax evasion by French taxpayers.
The investigation estimated the amount of tax income lost to UBS-controlled offshore accounts at €600 billion.
In July 2014, the bank was required to post a bond of 1.1 billion euros, which UBS complied with while making multiple appeals in the French court system, finally losing its appeal at the Court of Cassation (France), Cour de Cassation, France's highest court.
That same year, UBS accused the French government of engaging in a "highly politicized process" in its investigation of the bank.
In December 2021, UBS was criminally convicted by an appeals court in France for “illegal banking activities”, money laundering and “aggravated tax fraud” and fined €1.8 billion. UBS has said it is appealing that decision.
Corporate social responsibility
In January 2010, UBS issued a new code of conduct and business ethics which all employees were encouraged to sign. The code addressed issues such as financial crime, competition, confidentiality, as well as human rights and environmental issues. The eight-page code also lays out potential sanctions against employees who violate it, including warnings, demotions, or Dismissal (employment), dismissal. According to Kaspar Villiger, former chairman of the board, and Oswald J. Grübel, former Group CEO, the code is "an integral part of changing the way UBS conducts business".
In 2011, UBS expanded its global compliance database to include information on environmental and social issues provided by RepRisk, a global research firm specialized in environmental, social and corporate governance (e.g., environmental, social and corporate governance, ESG) risk analytics and metrics. This was done in an effort to mitigate environmental and social risks that could impact the bank's reputation or financial performance and to simultaneously help globally standardize and systematically implement the firm's due diligence processes. RepRisk data is used in the on-boarding process to screen potential new clients and sourcing partners, alongside periodic client reviews and, also, to evaluate the risks related to transactions in investment banking and institutional lending.
In 2018, UBS held 0.72% of shares in HikVision (surveillance cameras), a subsidiary of the Chinese military conglomerate CETC, sanctioned by the US Department of Commerce for participating to mass surveillance in the predominantly Muslim populated Chinese autonomous region of Xinjiang.
In October 2019, UBS joined UN's Global Investors for Sustainable Development Alliance (GISD).
UBS has committed to raise US$5 billion of SDG-related impact investments by the end of 2021, which aim to create a measurable positive social or environmental impact.
Research and development
Blockchain
UBS has been an early adopter regarding the use of
blockchain technology in financial services. In April 2015, UBS opened an innovation lab at the Level39 technology accelerator space in London.
In August 2016, UBS announced that it will team up with The Bank of New York Mellon, BNY Mellon, Deutsche Bank, Banco Santander, brokerage company ICAP and the fintech company Clearmatics, to promote UBS's "Utility Settlement Coin" (USC). The USC is a blockchain-based digital currency that financial institutions could use to transact securities with each other, bypassing the traditional settlement processes which is ongoing.
IMECL
In 2021, UBS buys 31% ICO Markets Exchange Clearing Limited, Digital Asset Exchange, Regulator Company in the European Digital Asset Market which financial institutions and private clients they will use to trade securities among themselves, bypassing the traditional ongoing settlement processes.
Artificial intelligence
In 2018, UBS digitally cloned Daniel Kalt, one of its chief economists. Artificial intelligence expert FaceMe was hired to create an interactive Avatar (computing), avatar of Kalt that can meet with clients via television screen. The clients will be able to ask questions and receive answers, made possible by IBM's Watson (computer), Watson AI technology.
Recognition
![UBS Arena](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/ba/UBS_Arena.png)
In 2006, for the fourth consecutive year, UBS was named one of the 100 Best Companies for Working Mothers living in the U.S. by ''Working Mother'' magazine. It is a member of the Stonewall (charity), Stonewall Diversity Champions scheme
and has active gay and lesbian, ethnic minority, and women's networking groups. UBS was included on ''Business Week Magazine, Business Week''s ''The Best Places to Launch a Career 2008'', and ranked No. 96 out of the 119 total companies listed.
On 2 February 2010, UBS topped the charts for the ninth year in a row in Institutional Investor's annual ranking of Europe's most highly regarded equity analysts. In a year of extremes for equity markets, money managers say that no firm did a better job than UBS to keep them informed about which European sectors, countries, and industries offered the greatest potential. On 4 May 2010, UBS Investment Bank was voted the leading pan-European brokerage firm for equity and equity linked research for a record tenth successive year. A Thomson Reuters Extel survey ranked UBS number one in all three of the key disciplines of research: Research (tenth year); Sales (ninth year running); and Equity Trading and Execution (up from second place in 2009). UBS was also named as the number one leading pan-European brokerage firm for economics and strategy research.
On 31 October 2013, UBS Wealth Management was voted the ''Best Global Private Bank'' by Professional Wealth Management, retaining the title in 2014 while also being recognized as the ''Best Private Bank for Philanthropy Services'', and ''Best Global Brand in Private Banking''. On 27 October 2016, for the 4th consecutive year, UBS Wealth Management won the ''Best Global Private Bank'' title, as well as the ''Best Private Bank in Asia award'' for the 5th consecutive year. UBS won the top prize again in 2018.
In 2014, the Group received Euromoney, Euromoney's Awards for Excellence 2014 as the ''Best global bank'', and as the ''Best Bank in Switzerland''. In 2017, UBS not only retained its leading position taken in 2016 in the main category ''best private banking services overall'' at the
Euromoney
''Euromoney'' is an English-language monthly magazine focused on business and finance. First published in 1969, it is the flagship production of Euromoney Institutional Investor plc.
History and profile
''Euromoney'' was first published in 19 ...
's ''Private Banking Awards'', but also received recognition as ''Western Europe's best bank for advisory 2017''.
In 2018, for the third consecutive year, RobecoSAM, an organization specialized exclusively on Sustainability Investing and conducting extensive research, named UBS in its Industry group leader report 2018 for each of the industry groups represented in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index the group leader in ''Diversified Financials''. The report highlighted Group's sustainability efforts directed through its UBS and Society program: a cross-divisional platform involving activities and capabilities in sustainable investing and philanthropy, environmental and human rights policies, UBS's own environmental footprint, as well as the community investment. The Group also received recognition from Global Finance (magazine), ''Global Finance'' which rates financial services providers that best meet the specialized needs of corporations on a global level. The selection criteria are focused less on the size, but rather on qualities that companies look for when choosing a provider.
UBS was named in the category ''Global Winners'' as ''Best Private Bank in the World'' 2017, and in the list of global best banks 2017, the Group received the award as ''Global Winner'' in the category ''World's Best Investment Banks 2017''.
In 2019, UBS was listed as one of the Top 50 World's Most Attractive Employers Global Business Ranking 2019 by Universum Global Survey.
Sponsorship
Sports
UBS is particularly active in sponsoring various golf tournaments, cross-country skiing (sport), cross-country skiing in Switzerland, ice hockey, and a range of other events around the world. UBS was the sponsor of the Alinghi sailing ship, winner of the Americas Cup in 2003. UBS has been or currently is a Sponsor (commercial), sponsor of the following sporting events and organizations:
* Alinghi
* Arnold Palmer Invitational
* Athletissima
* Automobile Club de Monaco
* Faldo Series, Faldo Series Asia
* Formula One
* Greifenseelauf
* Hahnenkamm Races
* Hong Kong Rugby Football Union
* New York Islanders
* Olympic Museum Lausanne
* The Players Championship
* Sierre-Zinal, Sierre-Zinal Mountain Race
* Spengler Cup, Spengler Cup Davos
* Swiss Athletics Federation
* UBS Arena, Elmont, NY
* UBS Hong Kong Open
* UBS Japan Golf Tour Championship
* UBS Kids Cup
* Weltklasse Zürich
Culture
UBS's cultural sponsorships are typically related to classical music and contemporary art, although the company also sponsors a range of film festivals, music festivals, and other cultural events and organizations. UBS supported the Guggenheim UBS MAP Global Art Initiative in which the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation identified and worked with artists, curators and educators from South Asia, South and Southeast Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East and North Africa to expand their reach in the international art world and challenge the Western-centric view of art history.
UBS has previously been or currently is a sponsor of the following cultural events and organizations:
* Art Basel
* Art Basel Miami Beach
* Art Gallery of New South Wales, Art Gallery NSW
* Ballett Zürich
* Basel Sinfonietta
* Beijing Music Festival
* Boston Symphony Orchestra
* Bregenz Festival
* Casals Festival
* Cy Twombly, Cy Twombly exhibition
* Deichtorhallen
* Fondation Beyeler
* Fondation Pierre Gianadda
* Fresh Paint Contemporary Art Fair, Tel Aviv
* Galleria d'Arte Moderna, Milan
* Guggenheim UBS MAP Global Art Initiative
* International Mozarteum Foundation
* Locarno International Film Festival
* London Symphony Orchestra
* Louisiana Museum of Modern Art
* Lucerne Festival
* Lucerne Symphony Orchestra
* Lugano Festival
* Montreux Jazz Festival
* New National Museum of Monaco
* Ravinia Festival
* Rheingau Musik Festival
* Sydney Theatre Company
* Singapore Sun Festival
* Swiss Institute Contemporary Art New York
* Thunerseespiele
* Utah Symphony
* Verbier Festival, Verbier Music Festival
* WOMEN: New Portraits by Annie Leibovitz
* Zurich Opera House, Zurich Opera
Naming rights
UBS currently holds the naming rights to UBS Arena which is the home of the New York Islanders.
See also
* Banking in Switzerland
* Systemically important financial institution
* Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority
* UBS 100 Index
* UBS Securities, China branch
Notes
References
Further reading
* Schutz, Dirk. ''The Fall of the UBS: The Reasons Behind the Decline of the Union Bank of Switzerland'', 1st ed. Pyramid Media Group, 2000. .
* Fox, Guy. ''How the World Really Works: Investment Banking'', Guy Fox Publishing, 2009. .
* Suter, Martin. ''Montecristo. Roman.'' Diogenes-Verlag, Zürich 2015. 320 S. .
*Blum, Georges. ''Société de Banque Suisse – Union de Banques Suisses. La vérité et le pourquoi de cette fusion.'' Favre, Lausanne 2015. (French)
*Temkin, Ann. ''Contemporary Voices: Works from the UBS Art Collection,'' Museum of Modern Art; First Paperback edition, 2005.
External links
*
*
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