Strategy

UBS Says London Operations To Remain Unchanged For Now

Amisha Mehta Deputy Editor London 16 November 2016

UBS Says London Operations To Remain Unchanged For Now

The Swiss bank revealed it is taking a wait-and-see approach to its London business.

UBS, the world's largest wealth management firm, will not change its London operations any time soon following Britain's vote to leave the European Union, said Axel Weber, chair of the bank’s board of directors.

“We are not planning to change anything any time soon and we will wait and see where the dust settles,” Weber said at a conference hosted by UBS on Wednesday.

He added that he expected the Brexit process to generate further volatility going forward and that all the key decisions to be made in the very final stages of negotiations.

Earlier this month, Swiss newspaper Finanz und Wirtschaft reported that UBS had completed most of the cost savings planned at its wealth management division with around 400 positions cut.

Zurich-headquartered UBS reported mixed wealth management results in its recent third-quarter statement. Its wealth management business excluding the Americas delivered an adjusted pre-tax profit of SFr643 million ($647 million), down SFr55 million from a year earlier. In the Americas, the unit’s pre-tax profit rose to a record $367 million.

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