Credit Suisse CEO to join UBS team
• Merger of two global Swiss banks spurs broader management reshuffle
UBS appointed Ulrich Körner to its top management body, giving the CEO of Credit Suisse a key role in overseeing the complex combination of the two firms.
Körner, a veteran of both lenders who unsuccessfully tried to stabilise Credit Suisse over the past nine months, will oversee the latter’s operating businesses as UBS plans to integrate them over time, according to a statement on Tuesday.
The announcement was part of a broader management reshuffle in which Todd Tuckner, a long-time UBS banker, takes over as CFO from Sarah Youngwood, who only joined the bank last year.
The appointments are part of a push by Sergio Ermotti, who was brought back as UBS CEO to oversee the governmentbrokered rescue of the smaller rival, to install allies with deep knowledge of the firms. Urgency to complete the historic task of integrating the giant businesses has been heightened by Credit Suisse’s warning that the state of limbo has already caused a spike in employee turnover.
Still, retaining Körner, who spent more than a decade at both banks, is a surprising choice. He had rejoined Credit Suisse in 2021 after losing out in a management reshuffle at UBS, and was named CEO in July last year. But his last-ditch effort to stabilise the bank with a strategic revamp, after years of scandal and losses under his predecessors, failed when broader banking industry turmoil early this year helped trigger the crisis that lead to the forced takeover in March.
Körner will now be in charge of ensuring Credit Suisse’s operational continuity when he joins UBS’s executive board. The bank said it is planning a “phased approach” for the integration and will initially manage the two separate parent companies, UBS and Credit Suisse. Each will continue to have its own subsidiaries and branches, serve its clients and deal with counterparties, though UBS will put new policies in place to ensure it has effective oversight.
Tuckner joined UBS in 2004 and is CFO and head of business performance and risk management for the wealth management unit. Youngwood was only brought in last year by former UBS CEO Ralph Hamers after a career at JPMorgan Chase, where she had been CFO for the consumer and community banking unit for five years.
She will leave UBS after the deal closes.
The appointments are “steps in the right direction, ensuring operational continuity of Credit Suisse as this complex integration is executed”, analysts Kian Abouhossein and Amit Ranjan at JPMorgan wrote in a note. “UBS is relying on its experienced hands for key positions.”
UBS swung between gains and losses, falling 0.3% in Zurich morning trading after rising as much as 0.9% earlier.
The composition of the new team raises questions about existing Credit Suisse executives and whether they will be moving on. Absent from Tuesday’s announcement was any mention of Credit Suisse finance chief Dixit Joshi, COO Francesca McDonagh and head of wealth management, Francesco De Ferrari.
UBS reiterated it will consider “all options” for Credit Suisse’s Swiss business, with an announcement likely in the coming months. Andre Helfenstein, who runs the unit, is likely to stay on, the Financial Times has reported.
After the Sf3bn deal closes, the combined firm will operate with five business divisions, seven functions and four regions, as well as Credit Suisse, according to Tuesday’s statement. Iqbal Khan will continue to run the wealth business, Rob Karofsky the investment bank, and Suni Harford asset management. Sabine Keller-Busse will remain head of personal and corporate banking.
The historic fusion of Switzerland’s two global banks has prompted Ermotti to look at the leadership ranks of UBS given the scale of the task ahead. He has reached out to a select number of high-profile former UBS bankers to gauge their interest, including Tom Naratil, who had held a number of senior positions during four decades at the firm, people familiar with the matter have said.
CREDIT SUISSE WARNED THAT THE STATE OF LIMBO HAS CAUSED A SPIKE IN EMPLOYEE TURNOVER