AFP
UBS merger with Credit Suisse raises job fears at home
The merger between UBS and Credit Suisse has raised concerns about job security and competition in Switzerland’s banking sector.
The fate of Credit Suisse’s domestic retail banking division remains uncertain, with options including integration into UBS, a sale, or a share offering. Some investors favor a spin-off to protect jobs and avoid concentration of risks in a single bank.
Analysts suggest that carving out the front office of Credit Suisse Switzerland could create value and alleviate concerns about the size of the merged entity.
ZURICH, SWITZERLAND — Among the many concerns over the new megabank created by the merger of UBS and the beleaguered Credit Suisse is how it will affect jobs and competition in Switzerland’s banking sector.
The Swiss government strongarmed UBS into buying its rival for US$3.25 billion after the collapse of three US lenders in March raised concerns about Credit Suisse’s own financial health, following a series of scandals in recent years.
But little has been said about the most robust part of the sprawling bank — its domestic retail banking division, responsible for mortgage loans and financing for Swiss companies.
Credit Suisse’s heavy losses were mostly due to the international wealth management and banking divisions.
The Swiss division’s turnover only fell by five per cent last year — whereas turnover in international wealth management slid by nearly a third, and the investment bank tumbled 54 per cent.
Investors are becoming impatient with the scattered details around the complex integration.
UBS insisted this week that “all options” would be considered for the Swiss activities of the bank, promising to share more details in the coming months.
UBS now ‘too big’
But investors are anxious to know whether UBS will integrate the Swiss banking division into its own domestic business, sell it, or even split it through a share offering.
“One of the reasons that support the idea of a spin-off is probably the fact that UBS has gotten too big after swallowing Credit Suisse for the Swiss market,” said Ipek Ozkardeskaya of Swissquote.
“Another could be to maximize the Swiss branch potential and to offer Swiss clients an alternative to UBS.”
Keeping it as an independent unit appeals to many in Switzerland — particularly as it could prevent mass layoffs in the important banking sector.
Together, the two banks employ 120,000 people worldwide, including 37,000 in Switzerland.
“Full integration means that UBS would have to take a lot of costs and fire a lot of people at Credit Suisse,” said Andreas Venditti, an analyst at asset manager Vontobel.
Credit Suisse itself had considered a partial IPO of its Swiss branch in 2016.
“We are still in favour of splitting off the Swiss branch,” the Foundation Ethos, which represents pension funds in Switzerland, told AFP.
Ethos said this was the best option not only to protect jobs but to avoid concentrating risks in one giant bank.
Venditti says that UBS could “carve out Credit Suisse Switzerland’s front office only… (the brand) would survive and the two banks would compete.”
“If in a few years’ time the situation has stabilized then it would be a good time to bring this new smaller Credit Suisse to the market,” he said.
J.P. Morgan analysts said splitting it off as an independent arm could create a division valued at a minimum of US$10 billion for UBS.
“We know that a spin-off could unlock value,” said Ozkardeskaya.
And it could also help calm jittering investors about the threat of “a giant that became even more giant after the merger”, she said.
— AFP
AFP
Singapore hangs 14th drug convict since last year
Singapore executed Mohd Aziz bin Hussain, convicted of drug trafficking, amid a resumption of executions in 2022. Another woman prisoner, Saridewi Djamani, faces execution.
Amnesty International urged Singapore to halt the executions, questioning the deterrent effect of the death penalty.
SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE — Singapore on Wednesday hanged a local man convicted of drug trafficking, officials said, two days before the scheduled execution of the first woman prisoner in the city-state in nearly 20 years.
Mohd Aziz bin Hussain, convicted and sentenced to death in 2017 for trafficking “not less than 49.98 grams” (1.76 ounces) of heroin, was executed at Changi Prison, the Central Narcotics Bureau said in a statement.
The 57-year-old was the 14th convict sent to the gallows since the government resumed executions in March 2022 after a two-year pause during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Hussain’s previous appeals against his conviction and sentence had been dismissed, and a petition for presidential clemency was also denied.
A woman drug convict, 45-year-old Saridewi Djamani, is scheduled to be hanged on Friday, according to the local rights group Transformative Justice Collective (TJC).
She was sentenced to death in 2018 for trafficking around 30 grams of heroin.
If carried out, Djamani would be the first woman executed in Singapore since 2004, when 36-year-old hairdresser Yen May Woen was hanged for drug trafficking, according to TJC activist Kokila Annamalai.
Singapore has some of the world’s toughest anti-drug laws — trafficking more than 500 grams of cannabis or over 15 grams of heroin can result in the death penalty.
Rights watchdog Amnesty International on Tuesday urged Singapore to halt the executions, saying there was no evidence the death penalty acted as a deterrent to crime.
“It is unconscionable that authorities in Singapore continue to cruelly pursue more executions in the name of drug control,” Amnesty death penalty expert Chiara Sangiorgio said in a statement.
Singapore, however, insists that the death penalty has helped make it one of Asia’s safest countries.
Among those hanged since last year was Nagaenthran K. Dharmalingam, whose execution sparked a global outcry, including from the United Nations and British tycoon Richard Branson, because he was deemed to have a mental disability.
— AFP
AFP
Singapore to execute first woman in nearly 20 years: rights groups
Singapore set to execute two drug convicts, including first woman in 20 years, despite rights groups’ calls to stop.
SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE — Singapore is set to hang two drug convicts this week, including the first woman to be sent to the gallows in nearly 20 years, rights groups said Tuesday, while urging the executions be halted.
Local rights organisation Transformative Justice Collective (TJC) said a 56-year-old man convicted of trafficking 50 grams (1.76 ounces) of heroin is scheduled to be hanged on Wednesday at the Southeast Asian city-state’s Changi Prison.
A 45-year-old woman convict who TJC identified as Saridewi Djamani is also set to be sent to the gallows on Friday. She was sentenced to death in 2018 for trafficking around 30 grams of heroin.
If carried out, she would be the first woman to be executed in Singapore since 2004 when 36-year-old hairdresser Yen May Woen was hanged for drug trafficking, said TJC activist Kokila Annamalai.
TJC said the two prisoners are Singaporeans and their families have received notices setting the dates of their executions.
Prison officials have not answered emailed questions from AFP seeking confirmation.
Singapore imposes the death penalty for certain crimes, including murder and some forms of kidnapping.
It also has some of the world’s toughest anti-drug laws: trafficking more than 500 grams of cannabis and 15 grams of heroin can result in the death penalty.
At least 13 people have been hanged so far since the government resumed executions following a two-year hiatus in place during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Rights watchdog Amnesty International on Tuesday urged Singapore to halt the impending executions.
“It is unconscionable that authorities in Singapore continue to cruelly pursue more executions in the name of drug control,” Amnesty’s death penalty expert Chiara Sangiorgio said in a statement.
“There is no evidence that the death penalty has a unique deterrent effect or that it has any impact on the use and availability of drugs.
“As countries around the world do away with the death penalty and embrace drug policy reform, Singapore’s authorities are doing neither,” Sangiorgio added.
Singapore insists that the death penalty is an effective crime deterrent.
— AFP
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