UBS chairman Axel Weber has reportedly said that he does not expect a merger with rival Credit Suisse in the near term, calling such a possibility tough to implement.
Weber’s remark comes soon after Credit Suisse departing chairman Urs Rohner told a Swiss publication that the merger is not “unreasonable” and would offer benefits.
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The two banks are smaller than its rivals in the US, and their amalgamation would have more clout, Rohner told Swiss newspaper Schweiz am Wochenende.
A news about a possible merger between the two rivals was first reported in September this year, when it was said that Weber was leading the project nicknamed Signal and has consulted with Credit Suisse chair Urs Rohner on the same.
Such a combination was said to likely have several regulatory constraints.
In the same month, a Bloomberg report said that Weber has prepared a wish list of possible partners for a potential merger, which includes names such as Deutsche Bank, BNP Paribas, and Credit Suisse.
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By GlobalDataThe report also said that Weber considers a deal with Deutsche Bank among the most favoured scenarios.
However, Weber later rejected the reports, while no official confirmation came from the banks.
The news comes amidst a management reshuffle at both the banks, with both Weber and Rohner approaching the completion of their terms.
Recently, the Credit Suisse board elected Antonio Horta-Osorio as the new chairman of the board.
Moreover, this year, Thomas Gottstein was appointed as the CEO of Credit Suisse, while Ralph Hamers was handed over the reins at UBS.
Hence, it is not the right time for such talks, believes Weber.
Speaking to Bloomberg TV, Weber has now said: “It’s always accretive if two domestic banks talk about mergers but they are very, very hard to implement.
“I don’t expect these things to happen at the current juncture. I think this will be things discussed for years to come before we see any concrete movement.”
Weber added: “We are not in a rush to change things, we have had a pretty good year”, adding “you really need to look at the bank and its profile in a post-Covid environment.”
