UBS has appointed Michael Ebert, former co-head of markets at Credit Suisse, as head of Americas for the investment bank following the legal completion of its emergency takeover of its troubled Swiss peer.
Ebert is the most senior investment banker to be retained by UBS following the deal, according to two internal memos setting out leadership roles seen by IFR. He will also be head of Credit Suisse for the investment bank and will join the investment bank management forum reporting to Rob Karofsky, head of the investment bank.
Ebert's role as head of the Americas for the investment bank is a new position at UBS, and reinforces its plan to bulk up in the US and accelerate its growth there after the purchase of Credit Suisse, which has long been one of the strongest investment banks in the US.
“Mike will play a critical role in ensuring operational continuity and client focus while supporting the integration process of the investment bank,” said Karofsky.
As announced in April, UBS has hired Marco Valla from Barclays as co-head of global banking. Valla will be co-head alongside Javier Oficialdegui. At Barclays Valla was based in New York and was global head of technology, media and technology and consumer retail.
Valla starts in the third quarter. Before then Ros L'Esperance will remain in that role and then take on a new position advising on strategy for global banking.
Taichi Takahashi remains head of the investment bank for Asia Pacific.
A swathe of Credit Suisse executives have decided to leave the firm, including chief financial officer Dixit Joshi, who had previously been group treasurer at Deutsche Bank during its restructuring. He only joined Credit Suisse in October.
David Miller, global head of investment banking and capital markets and credit, is also leaving. He was also co-head of the investment bank and chief executive of the Americas at Credit Suisse. Ken Pang, co-head of markets, is also leaving.
David Wildermuth, who joined Credit Suisse from Goldman Sachs in early 2022 as chief risk officer following the Greensill and Archegos Capital Management debacles, will remain at UBS as chief risk officer for the Americas, reporting to group chief risk officer Christian Bluhm.
The memo said that for now Credit Suisse would “rely on its established governance and risk control framework, though some new policies will be put in place to ensure that UBS Group has effective oversight and that integration efforts are managed swiftly and in a coordinated way”.
It added that with immediate effect there would be “four new investment bank integration-related governance forums to ensure appropriate governance and operational stability during the integration period”. These would ensure there was alignment “on key business and risk matters”.
“For those of you involved in the integration process, this will likely be a multi-year transition, but the next few months are going to be critical. I therefore can’t emphasise enough that we must remain laser-focused on managing our operational and execution risks,” said Karofsky.