UBS is reportedly preparing to overhaul its investment arm — and it could mean hundreds of job cuts
ReutersUBS is preparing to revamp its investment bank in a bid to revitalize the underperforming business, according to the Financial Times.
The Swiss lender's sweeping overhaul will center on combining divisions and slashing costs to boost profits, raising the prospect of hundreds of job cuts, the FT said.
UBS will merge its equities division with the smaller foreign exchange, rates, and credit trading operations, the FT reported.
It will also rebrand and restructure its corporate client solutions division, and house all of its debt and equity capital market functions in a global unit, the FT said.
UBS is preparing to revamp its investment bank in a bid to revitalize the underperforming business, according to the Financial Times.
The Swiss lender's sweeping overhaul will center on combining divisions and slashing costs to boost profits, raising the prospect of hundreds of job cuts, the newspaper said.
The bank has weathered external forces such as Brexit and the US-China trade war, and stricter government regulations, as well as sluggish client activity. Those challenges contributed to a $47 million loss at its investment bank in the fourth quarter of 2018, and steep earnings declines in each of the past two quarters.
UBS intends to merge its investment bank's core equities division with the smaller foreign exchange, rates, and credit trading (FRC) operations to form a securities and trading unit, the FT reported, citing three unnamed sources. The current heads of equities and FRC, Jason Barron and George Athanasopoulos, will take charge of the new segment, the Financial Times said.
Meanwhile, the corporate client solutions division will be rebranded and restructured with a global focus. Ros Stephenson and Javier Oficialdegui will be appointed global co-heads of investment banking, running mergers and acquisitions and capital markets operations, the FT said.
Brendan Connolly, the former head of leveraged debt capital markets, will take over a global unit housing all debt and equity capital market functions, the newspaper said.
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