UBS considers retaining Credit Suisse’s private banking unit in India: Report

Swiss banking giant UBS is reportedly considering retaining Credit Suisse AG’s private banking unit in India, making a possible return to the market. This comes after UBS agreed to buy rival Credit Suisse for $3.23 billion in stock last month, and assume up to $5.4 billion in losses. 

According to a report in Bloomberg, the global head of wealth management at UBS, Iqbal Khan, met with Credit Suisse executives including the local lender’s wealth head Puneet Matta in Singapore. Khan then reportedly told the Credit Suisse staff that the wealth business in India is likely to be retained. 

Khan was in Credit Suisse before he left for UBS in 2019. UBS had left India by 2014, exiting the country’s private-wealth market. The return is expected to pave the way for UBS into the market as the number of billionaires in India continues to rise. 

As per the report, the merger would see large parts of Credit Suisse’s investment bank wind down. The lender has just over 40 wealth management employees and around 7,000 overall employees in the country. 

The deal inked between UBS and Credit Suisse last month includes $108 billion in liquidity assistance for UBS and Credit Suisse from the Swiss central bank. The federal government is providing a loss guarantee of a maximum 9 billion Swiss francs to enable UBS take over Credit Suisse. 

This will be activated if losses are actually incurred on this portfolio. In that eventuality, UBS would assume the first 5 billion francs, the federal government the next 9 billion francs, and UBS would assume any further losses, the government said.

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