By Noele Illien
ZURICH, April 5 (Reuters) - UBS will seek to
reassure shareholders on Wednesday that its unexpected takeover
of rival Credit Suisse in the biggest bank rescue since
the great financial crash can work.
Last month, Swiss authorities announced that UBS would buy
Credit Suisse in a shotgun merger to stem further banking
turmoil after the smaller lender had come to the brink of
collapse.
After a run on deposits, the Swiss government had turned to
UBS, which agreed to buy Credit Suisse for 3 billion Swiss
francs ($3.3 billion), while the Alpine state put up more than
200 billion francs of support and guarantees.
The move angered not only shareholders but many in
Switzerland. A survey by political research firm gfs.bern found
a majority of Swiss did not support the deal.
Shareholders of Switzerland's largest bank will have the
chance to air their views on Wednesday, although they may be
wary about rocking a boat that had been on a steady course.
For 2022, UBS reported a net profit of $7.6 billion and
strong inflows in wealth management, the company's flagship
division.
Now, the bank is looking at how to navigate the mammoth task
of integrating Credit Suisse, the success of which Switzerland
depends on, without undermining its strengths.
It has already taken the first steps. Last week UBS
announced it had rehired Sergio Ermotti as chief executive to
steer the massive takeover - a surprise move to take advantage
of the Swiss banker's experience rebuilding the bank after the
global financial crisis.
Wednesday marks Ermotti's first official day back in the
job, but he is not expected to attend.
Instead, outgoing Chief Executive Ralph Hamers, who has led
the bank for less than three years will take the stage,
alongside Chairman Colm Kelleher.
The bank's annual general meeting comes a day after
executives at Credit Suisse faced their own shareholders and
Chairman Axel Lehmann apologised for leading the bank to the
verge of bankruptcy.
(Reporting by Noele Illien
Editing by John O'Donnell and Tomasz Janowski)
