What would happen if UBS takes over Credit Suisse?

If UBS really takes over Credit Suisse (CS) the new UBS would become so big that there wouldn‘t be a Nr 2 Bank in Switzerland any more. For decades. We would have a UBS on steroids.

The new UBS would hold more than 50% of all deposits in Switzerland, it would have over 110k employees and it would manage over $4.5 trillion Assets under Management (AuM) with a market cap of $65 Billion. UBS would become the second largest employer in the country after Nestle.

The new GIGA UBS would have more assets under management than JPMorgan, the largest Bank in the US with $3 trillion AuM. It would hold a balance sheet that is double the GDP of Switzerland. The new UBS would be the 5th largest Bank in the world after Agricultural Bank of China.

However, UBS and CS are archi-rivals. It‘s like Barca and Real Madrid becoming best friends and merging because they were forced to. Who can imagine that? A forced marriage rarely works.

The Swiss Competition commission (WeKo) won‘t be happy about a takeover of CS by UBS since both institutions have a leading position in the Swiss banking sector. However, for the better of the country and the global financial system, the WeKo will make an exception. The question is if the WeKo will pressure the new UBS to spin off CS in the future to a new rival Bank.

The next largest Private Bank with an international setup like UBS is Pictet with $700 Billion AuM and 5k employees. Pictet is a private Bank.