UBS
27.41 CHF 4.89%
Starting in April, the major bank plans to initially combine the UBS and CS branches in five communities to form “pilot branches.” Across Switzerland, UBS and CS bank branches are expected to be merged at a total of 85 locations by the end of 2025.
The five “pilot locations” are Mendrisio in Ticino, the Jura canton capital Delémont, the Aargau communities of Rheinfelden and Frick and Grenchen in Solothurn, as the UBS media office confirmed on Friday with information from the CH Media newspapers and other media. The existing UBS and CS employees will be brought together in one place. In Grenchen, for example, the CS branch will be closed, while in Rheinfelden the UBS branch will be closed.
The big bank apparently wants to gain “experience” with these combined pilot branches. The mergers are expected to continue over the course of the year: According to the newspaper report, around 20 more Swiss locations will apparently be consolidated in the third quarter.
The branch streamlining had already been announced at the annual media conference at the beginning of February. UBS CEO Sergio Ermotti said at the time that the total number of UBS branches would move “in the direction of the number of UBS branches before the integration.” More details will emerge by the end of 2025. There are currently around 190 UBS branches and around 95 CS branches in Switzerland. There are both UBS and CS branches at 85 locations.
All employees at the five pilot locations will now keep their jobs for the time being. In the longer term, however, the integration of CS into UBS is also likely to lead to job cuts in Switzerland. CEO Ermotti had already announced last summer that the merger of major banks could lead to 3,000 layoffs in Switzerland.
The UBS share temporarily gained 4.36 percent to CHF 27.30 in SMI trading.
Zurich (awp)