UBS plans massive layoffs after merger

Swiss banking giant UBS, which has signed a historic merger with Credit Suisse, plans to lay off 20-30 percent of its employees. The banking crisis in Switzerland is causing a bitter prescription in terms of employment. According to the news in the Swiss newspaper Sonntagszeitung based on UBS executives, UBS plans to lay off 20-30 percent of its workforce. Thus, the bank is on the agenda to part ways with 36 thousand employees worldwide. Layoffs are expected to reach 11 thousand in Switzerland. The total employees of UBS and Credit Suisse reach 125 thousand. This number corresponds to 30 percent of the total in Switzerland. Last month, Credit Suisse announced that they would part ways with 9 thousand employees before being rescued by UBS. It was expected that this number would double due to the overlapping of many positions after the merger. The historic merger was caused by the crisis experienced by the long-established Swiss bank Credit Suisse, and the Swiss National Bank stepped in and opened a $54 billion credit line to the bank. During the ongoing crisis, another long-standing bank, UBS, stepped in and agreed to take over Credit Suisse in a historic acquisition. It was stated that UBS would pay 3 billion Swiss francs ($3.3 billion) to acquire its rival. The Swiss National Bank agreed to provide a liquidity line of 100 billion francs to UBS as part of the agreement. The Swiss government also announced that UBS would be guaranteed 9 billion francs for potential losses from the acquisition. The Swiss banking authority Finma announced that 16 billion francs worth of risky Credit Suisse bonds would be worthless after the agreement.