Staff Worried About Job Cuts / Sale Of Investment Bank
Although some analysts feel that the idea of an ABN AMRO-style break-up of UBS is absurd, others say that stranger things have happened. And calls have been growing to split the investment bank off from asset management and private banking. Others favour a sale of the investment banking unit, and rumours were rife a few weeks back (all denied) that Lehman Brothers were preparing to make a bid. Reuters suggests that Royal Bank of Scotland may also be a possible bidder. And The Times suggested over the weekend that a full-scale merger between HSBC and UBS may be the way forward - something that was once suggested in the late-1990s. A tie-up between Europe's biggest and second largest bank would certain be intriguing.
That said, most expect that, although there will be a fair bit of tinkering around the edges, there will be no major structural changes made to the current model under new CEO Marcel Rohner. However, staff at the investment bank can expect life to change. Over 6,000 staff were said to have been hired in the unit in 2006, and the bank had already turned its attentions to cost controls. Fears are growing that a fresh round of job cuts is now on the cards. Having invested so much in the unit over the last few years UBS will be determined to get payback. Investors will also expect to see better returns from the unit, which still lags US rivals in the key North American market.
The investment bank, then, will be under the microscope like perhaps never before. CEO Huw Jenkins will, however, be given time to fix it. In the meantime, staff will find themselves under more pressure to perform.