UBS CEO Reportedly Sees Credit Suisse Takeover As Growth Opportunity: 'Did Not Buy…Only To Close It'

UBS Group AG UBS CEO Ralph Hamers reportedly said on Monday the Swiss lender views its government-orchestrated takeover of Credit Suisse Group AG CS as a growth opportunity.

What Happened: “While we did not seek this transaction, we were prepared, and we see it as an opportunity to accelerate our firm's growth story,” Hamers wrote in an internal memo seen by Reuters. “We did not buy Credit Suisse only to close it.”

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On March 19, UBS had announced its plans to acquire Credit Suisse and stated that the combination is expected to create a business with more than $5 trillion in total invested assets and sustainable value opportunities. The combined businesses will be a leading asset manager in Europe, with invested assets of more than $1.5 trillion, it said.

Liquidity: Credit Suisse had tapped the Swiss National Bank for “a large multi-billion amount” last weekend to secure its liquidity, Switzerland's finance minister Karin Keller-Sutter told Swiss broadcaster SRF on Saturday, according to a Reuters report.

Sight deposits, which are cash held by the Swiss National Bank, or SNB, for commercial banks overnight, rose last week, indicating both Credit Suisse and UBS may have taken big chunks of emergency liquidity to close their merger, a Reuters report said. Sight deposits rose to 567 billion Swiss francs ($619 billion) from 515 billion francs a week earlier, the report added.

John Mack, former CEO of Credit Suisse, had heaped praises on UBS Group Chairman Colm Kelleher, saying the banker is smart and is a natural leader.

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