“The new UBS is a huge risk,” said Nordmann. “That bank will soon have more than 1500 billion francs (converted over 1511 billion euros) in assets and is simply too big for Switzerland.” If UBS got into trouble, the Swiss central bank SNB and the Swiss government would not have enough resources to prevent a collapse.
In addition, Switzerland and the SNB have already pledged 209 billion francs to prevent Credit Suisse from collapsing and to enable the takeover by UBS. “It’s a huge risk.”
Nordmann wants more separation between consumer banks and investment banks and asset managers. The latter types of banks run greater risks.
The takeover of Credit Suisse by UBS – led by former ING director Ralph Hamers – was finalized this weekend. Credit Suisse had been hit by a series of scandals and reports that more and more customers were withdrawing their money from the bank. The financial markets were already tense after the collapse of the American Silicon Valley Bank.