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UBS Group AG, the company that earlier this year acquired the ailing Credit Suisse Group, will begin restructuring starting next month. More than half of the 45,000 jobs at Credit Suisse will disappear.

In the news: There will be three rounds of layoffs at Credit Suisse this year, insiders told news agency Bloomberg.

  • The first round will take place in July, followed by layoffs in September and October as well. Jobs will be affected in just about every region, but workers in Asia, London and New York will be hit hardest.
  • In Switzerland itself, no jobs are likely to be cut (at least for now). UBS will only decide during the third quarter whether to integrate Credit Suisse into its own Swiss branch. Other options include a sale or spin-off. If integration is chosen, up to 10,000 jobs at Credit Suisse could disappear.
  • In particular, Credit Suisse's investment arm is likely to be cut firmly. UBS announced earlier this year that it will firmly cut the loss-making branch. Among other things, the investment arm was involved in the , in which Credit Suisse lost some 4.4 billion Swiss francs (about 4 billion euros at the time).
  • Since the takeover, UBS has 120,000 employees. The group previously indicated that it plans to save some $6 billion over the next few years. Analysts previously expected UBS to lay off 30,000 employees, but insiders say that number could rise further, to 35,000.

End of independence

A brief history: After several banks in the United States (US) went head-to-head in March, Credit Suisse, , also found itself in difficult waters.

  • Customers began to withdraw deposits en masse, leaving the major bank in trouble, and even a $54 billion loan to ensure liquidity ultimately proved insufficient to reassure investors.
  • It soon became clear that a takeover was inevitable, to avoid bankruptcy. The Swiss government came to the rescue, asking UBS to take over Credit Suisse in March. UBS eventually paid for the merchant bank.
  • It was at once the largest merger of two major banks since the 2008 financial crisis. Together, the two banks have a balance sheet of more than $1,600 billion.

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