Julius Baer CEO said that Switzerland needs two big banks to fuel competition - report ZURICH Reuters - Switzerland needs two big banks to fuel competition, the chief executive officer of Julius Baer said in a newspaper interview that there was speculation about the future of Credit Suisse, the second biggest lender after UBS.
Philipp Rickenbacher told the Neue Zuercher Zeitung that two healthy and strong big banks are important for the Swiss financial centre.
Credit Suisse is trying to turn the page on costly scandals that led to a reshuffle of top management and a restructuring of risk-taking. A report this month said State Street Bank planned a takeover bid and sent its shares soaring.
Rickenbacher said that Baer was well-placed to handle the consolidation expected to come in the sector.
Since 2020, the markets were doing well and all banks profited from this. Wealth management is becoming more expensive and the density of regulations is increasing, he was quoted as saying.
Technology is increasingly penetrating our business, even though people will always play a central role. Julius Baer can handle the necessary investments, but many smaller wealth managers can't. He said clients were wary of taking on new risks because of the market uncertainty caused by COVID 19 restrictions in Asia, disrupted supply chains, inflation fears and Russia-Ukraine conflict.