2024-03-17 06:38:17
Bern (awp/ats) – According to its chairman of the board of directors, the major bank UBS was retrospectively “prepared as best as possible” for the takeover of Credit Suisse. In the future, the coordination of supervisory authorities and central banks must be clarified, Colm Kelleher said in an interview.
Before the takeover, UBS considered countless different scenarios, Kelleher said in an interview published by NZZ am Sonntag on Sunday. It was clear to him from October 2022 that Credit Suisse no longer had a future. That’s when the bank presented its strategic plan. From November 2022, external advisors from UBS began their work.
In March 2023, an intervention center and a strategic committee within the board of directors were finally ready. With Lukas Gähwiler, the bank also had a well-connected Swiss vice-president.
Colm Kelleher, however, held his breath when he received the call from Finma, the financial market supervisory authority. “I was speechless for two minutes, even though I expected it,” he said.
His thoughts at that time were with the employees of Credit Suisse, victims of the situation. “But it had to continue: we had four days to reach an agreement with a hesitant fiancée,” he says.
New instruments for monitoring
The negotiations were never interrupted, but there were difficult moments, admits the chairman of the board of directors. He sometimes intervened with management and supervisory authorities. “Finma did a very good job between March 15 and 19,” he notes.
The powers of Finma were, however, limited. In the future, new instruments for monitoring will be required. “Will there be a ‘double head’, with a supervisory authority subordinate to the central bank?” This question needs to be clarified, believes Colm Kelleher.
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