Ralf Hammers: A Dutchman has a difficult task ahead of him to save the Swiss financial system
When the marathon negotiations ended, culminating in the agreement to merge the 166-year-old Credit Suisse into UBS, its chief executive, Ralph Hammers, declared: “It’s a sad day, nobody wished for it.” Many in the field see the banker as a savior of the Swiss financial system.
Ralph Hamers is at the helm of the largest Swiss bank. Until the past few weeks, the priority of the CEO of “UPS” was to invest in digital technology, but he found himself forced to focus on the purchase of Credit Suisse and its consequences.
Last Sunday, UBS agreed to spend $ 3.2 billion in order to buy the 166-year-old Credit Suisse bank, which the supervisory authorities and governments sought to prevent from collapsing in order to avoid a crisis that might have repercussions such as those that shook the world in 2008.
A statement from the Swiss National Bank said, “With UBS’ acquisition of Credit Suisse, a solution has been found to ensure financial stability and protect the Swiss economy in this exceptional situation, stressing that it is working with the Swiss government and the Financial Market Supervisory Authority to merge the two largest banks in the country.”
Fifty-six-year-old Dutchman Hammers has been at the helm of UBS since November 2020, following he took over the Dutch bank ING, which was facing a difficult situation related to the payment of 10 billion euros in public aid from which it benefited.
He managed to pay off that debt seven months early, but during his time at the helm of ING a case of suspicious account use arose, leading to the resignation of the chief financial officer.
When he was appointed to the helm of UBS, many were surprised by this, as he did not have much experience in investment banking or wealth management, as he was seen as having a great ability to bring regarding digital transformation in the banking sector.
After his appointment two and a half years ago, the banker, who spent twenty-nine years in the Dutch bank, including seven years at the head of public administration, confirmed that he wanted to accelerate the decision-making process in the Swiss bank UBS, which he joined two and a half years ago, stressing that geopolitical risks represent A major concern for him in the current circumstance.
Challenges have continued since he assumed command of the Swiss bank, which he joined at the height of the pandemic, which followed the war in Ukraine, as the bank achieved profits amounting to $ 7.6 billion last year.
Its officials were not planning to buy a bank facing difficulties like Credit Suisse, but rather to proceed with digitization and modernization of the bank, which is considered the first in managing the wealth of the world, as the assets are among the largest in the world.
Fifty-six-year-old Dutchman Hammers has been at the helm of UBS since November 2020
The Dutch banker, who holds a master’s degree in economics with a specialization in operations research from the University of “Tilburg” in the Netherlands, is credited with his strict cost-cutting policies when he was at the helm of ING and his passion for applying digital technologies to banking services.
After last Sunday’s agreement, the number of UPS employees reached 124,500, including 50,480 employees belonging to Credit Suisse, but that number is expected to decrease by regarding 25,000, as long as Ralph Hammers stated, during a conference with locals, that he wants to reduce costs by $ 8 billion. in the year until 2027.
Hammers, who is married to a female colleague, will have to orchestrate the on-the-ground merger of Credit Suisse into UBS, where he will be in charge of a new bank with huge assets, implying some kind of dominance in several markets across the world.
Hammers, who has been well rewarded for the results achieved by UBS this year, has made it clear that the operation will not have a positive impact on earnings per share until four years later.
He has never undertaken a merger of the level that is intended to be accomplished between Credit Suisse and UBS, but there are those who believe that he has completed many restructuring operations in the Netherlands and Belgium, which is an experience that will benefit him in the new task.