Swiss authorities will unveil tougher rules for the banking sector in the coming weeks to prevent a repeat of the 2023 collapse of Credit Suisse, which left UBS as the country’s only global bank.
But UBS is wary of what the new regulation could bring. The CEO of UBS Bank, Sergio Ermotti, says that Switzerland should not introduce rules for the banking sector that would put it in a disadvantageous position.
Ermotti, according to Reuters, said the stricter rules could weaken Switzerland’s financial sector compared to competitors in London, Hong Kong and Singapore.
“Switzerland cannot afford to go back to the ‘model student syndrome’ and introduce rules that do not apply in other countries,” Ermotti told Migros-Magazin, a weekly publication of one of Switzerland’s main retailers.
Citing the findings of a Swiss parliamentary inquiry released in December, Ermotti said Credit Suisse was solely responsible for its collapse, while Swiss authorities allowed the bank to circumvent existing regulations.
“Big banks have learned lessons from past crises and today they are a stabilizing factor, not a problem. Even if UBS had problems, it is unlikely that taxpayers would lose a single franc,” said Ermotti, stressing that the bank has enough reserves to cover possible losses.
Ermotti also said that the integration of Credit Suisse into UBS is going smoothly, describing the risk of delays in the complex IT migration as the biggest challenge, reports Financije hr.
On a sensitive question about salaries, Ermotti stated that he always believes that he should be paid according to the competition and according to the results of his work. He added that his first monthly salary as an intern was 350 Swiss francs, or 388 US dollars.
However, as an executive director in 2023, he earned 14.4 million francs, or 15.96 million dollars.
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