UBS re-appoints CEO Ermotti for the acquisition of Credit Suisse.

Sergio Ermotti, a former CEO of UBS, will rejoin the Swiss bank to oversee the acquisition of Credit Suisse and serve as CEO of the megabank.

On April 5, Ermotti will succeed Ralph Hamers as CEO of UBS, UBS announced on Wednesday. Ermotti previously held the position of CEO of UBS from 2011 to 2020. He is currently the chair of the insurance company Swiss Re.

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During a tumultuous weekend of negotiations with regulators and government officials, UBS and the troubled Credit Suisse agreed on March 19 to purchase it for CHF3 billion ($3.25 billion).

The abrupt and dramatic turn of circumstances has caused a shakeup at the top of UBS, with Ermotti being viewed as the best candidate to assume leadership of the expanded banking company.

In a statement, Ermotti stated, "I am aware of the confusion people feel. "We must carefully and methodically weigh all of our possibilities."

The Swiss national later told the reporters, "I am completely aware that we need to work very hard to avoid any [bad] implications for taxpayers in Switzerland. The Swiss government has pledged billions in state funds to cover potential losses for UBS to complete the deal.

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Colm Kelleher, chairman of UBS, said, "I cannot emphasize enough how enormous this deal is in terms of financial history and financial engineering. During this extensive integration exercise, the board determined that Sergio would make the ideal pilot for UBS's upcoming cruise.

Kelleher emphasized that the choice of the new CEO of UBS was not primarily influenced by Swiss citizenship. He further disputed that Swiss regulators and ministers had any input in the choice of Ermotti. According to Kelleher, the UBS board alone made the decision and initially contacted Ermotti on March 20, the day the takeover agreement was reached.

Ermotti remarked, "I'm not so cruel as to enjoy a crisis.

ominous remarks

For the near future, Hamers, who followed Ermotti in 2020, will remain at UBS as an advisor to help guide the acquisition of cross-town rival Credit Suisse.

He remarked, "Conditions have evolved in ways none of us anticipated. I stand in the best interests of the newly united business and its stakeholders, particularly Switzerland and its financial sector.

Switzerland does not require two major international banks to prosper, Ermotti asserted in a foresightful interview with the Neue Zürcher Zeitung newspaper in November.

At the time, he asserted that the diversity of the nation's financial center was considerably more significant than the number of large banks.

One of the biggest reinsurance organizations in the world, Swiss Re, has named board member Jacques de Vaucleroy as interim chair while a permanent replacement for Ermotti is sought out.