BERN (Reuters) – The chief executive of Swiss bank UBS, Sergio Ermotti, warned on Friday of “painful” decisions on job cuts following the takeover of rival Credit Suisse, which he hopes see finalized in the days to come.
“We will not be able to create, in the short term, job opportunities for everyone,” he told an event organized by the Asset Management Association Switzerland in Bern.
“We need to seriously look at the cost base of stand-alone and combined organizations and create a sustainable outcome,” he added. “It will be painful.”
The first Swiss bank agreed last March to buy out its rival in difficulty as part of a merger led by the authorities of the Confederation, an operation that the group wishes to conclude quickly.
“I hope it will be done in the next few days,” said Sergio Ermotti, who returned to head UBS in April to orchestrate the biggest banking operation since the 2008 financial crisis.
He also said Credit Suisse had plenty of talent, which could suggest its leaders could play a bigger role in the combined group than the new management team unveiled last month suggested.
Only Ulrich Körner, managing director of Credit Suisse, joined UBS’s management board during the May reshuffle.
(Report John Revill, French version Diana Mandiá, edited by Blandine Hénault)
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