ZURICH (Reuters) – Swiss banking giant UBS will look for mergers and acquisitions opportunities in the United States in the next few years, its chairman told the NZZ newspaper on Sunday.
UBS, which took over former rival Credit Suisse last June, wants to expand its US asset management business through potential mergers and acquisitions in the next three to four years, Colm Kelleher said.
“Only in the asset management sector and not now,” he added.
Since bailing out Credit Suisse, UBS has faced criticism over its $1.6 trillion-plus balance sheet, nearly twice the size of the Swiss economy, and prompted the country to overhaul its regulation of systemically important banks.
Kelleher, however, opposed calls for UBS to have higher capital requirements.
“If you have too much capital, you punish shareholders but also customers because banking becomes more expensive,” he told NZZ.
The first merger of two systemically important global banking groups also saw former boss Sergio Ermotti return for a second term at the helm.
Kelleher said Ermotti was the right person to take on the “herculean task” of integrating Credit Suisse, adding that he would like Ermotti’s successor to be someone from UBS.