Bern should dress warmly

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It’s the return of the decade: Sergio Ermotti (62), the last Swiss superbanker, returns to the top of the new UBS superbank. This is a strong sign, because now everything has to happen quickly. UBS cannot delay integrating Credit Suisse, must win the trust of all stakeholders and do everything so that the takeover of the crisis bank CS can become a success story. It’s about the trust of financial markets, customers, employees and the public – and, last but not least, taxpayers who hope it won’t be at their expense to bail out a big bank.

Sergio Ermotti is the right person for that. After the financial crisis, he restructured UBS and put it back on the path to success. He successfully placed the investment bank at the service of asset management and curbed the risk appetite of the Anglo-Saxon bankers.

Ermotti is world famous and well connected, he can and should be the first to stop the emigration of wealthy CS clients. Bern should dress warmly. Ticino will fight like a lion against the new rules and for bonuses. Politicians bite their teeth for him. He knows the mechanics of Swiss politics much better than his predecessor and can nip Swiss criticism in the bud.

However, the successful banker Ermotti faces serious problems. The environment for the UBS bailout was very different, at a time when the economy was booming thanks to billions from central banks. Today, the world economy is in crisis, banks are feeling the icy wind after raising interest rates.

Despite the headwind, Sergio Ermotti is able to lead the new UBS to success. He is experienced, determined, and also vain enough to fail.

Source: Blick