Thousands of UK jobs at risk after UBS takeover of Credit Suisse

theguardian.com:

The fate of thousands of jobs in London’s financial district is in doubt after the emergency merger of Swiss banks UBS and Credit Suisse.

The two lenders are yet to spell out in detail what their rushed union may mean for the more than 5,000 Credit Suisse and about 6,000 UBS staff based in London.

The Swiss governmentforced through a takeover of Credit Suisse by its rival UBS on Sunday for almost $3.25bn (£2.65bn) – well below its market value at the time – amid fears its collapse could trigger a banking crisis.

Sources at Credit Suisse told the Guardian they expected investment banking roles to be the worst-hit group among those based in London, and as many as 20% of workers would be lost across other business areas.

“There is no clarity on what this merger means for us other than there will be fewer jobs to go around. In that environment, we’re all rewriting our CVs and trying to hold it together,” one source said.

Insiders added that it was too soon to provide any certainty on the total number of workers who may lose their jobs. Some staff within the bank’s wealth and asset management arms had been offered retention payments by UBS, amid cross-sector competition for high performers, sources said.

Credit Suisse and UBS declined to comment on plans to cut or reconfigure the new joint workforce.

In a signal that jobs and other costs could be slashed across the board, UBS said in its press release confirming the merger that the tie-up would save the enlarged bank $8bn in running costs by 2027. That statement contrasted with the one issued by Credit Suisse, which said: “UBS has expressed its confidence that the employment of the staff of Credit Suisse will be continued.”

Fresh job losses could compound the impact on the City from