UBS Group AG
UBS Group AG is a leading Swiss multinational investment bank and financial services company headquartered in Switzerland, with co-headquarters in Zürich and Basel. As the largest Swiss banking institution, UBS operates in major financial centers globally. The bank is known for its strict confidentiality practices and culture of banking secrecy, offering a range of client services. With significant market positions in the Americas, EMEA (Europe, the Middle East, and Africa), and Asia Pacific, UBS is considered a systemically important financial institution within the European Union and the global economy.
Founded in 1862 as the Bank in Winterthur, UBS played a key role in the development of the Swiss banking industry. In the 1890s, the Swiss Bank Corporation (SBC) was established, forming a private banking syndicate that grew with the country’s international neutrality. The Bank of Winterthur merged with Toggenburger Bank in 1912 to form the Union Bank of Switzerland (UBS), and the bank flourished after Swiss banking secrecy was codified in 1934. After years of competition, UBS and SBC merged in 1998, creating the unified UBS brand. Despite significant losses during the 2008 financial crisis, UBS rebounded with an asset relief recovery program and navigated a $2 billion trading loss from a rogue trader scandal in 2011. In 2012, UBS refocused its efforts on wealth management and scaled back its sell-side operations.
UBS offers a wide range of services, including private banking, wealth management, asset management, and investment banking for private, corporate, and institutional clients. It manages the largest amount of private wealth globally, serving nearly half of the world’s billionaires. Despite reducing its sell-side activities, UBS remains one of the nine “Bulge Bracket” investment banks, recognized as a global primary market maker. The bank is also known for maintaining extensive underground vaults and gold storage facilities in the Swiss Alps and around the world. Due to its banking secrecy, UBS has faced scrutiny in multiple tax avoidance investigations from authorities in the U.S., France, Germany, Israel, and Belgium. Its operations in Switzerland and the U.S. were ranked first and second, respectively, on the 2018 Financial Secrecy Index.
As of 2017, UBS was the 11th largest bank in Europe, with a market capitalization of $64.5 billion and over CHF 3.2 trillion in assets under management. Its return on invested capital in June 2017 stood at 11.1%, surpassing that of competitors like Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase. In 2016, UBS established a blockchain technology research lab in London to enhance its cybersecurity and encryption capabilities for client activities. Due to its market influence, capital strength, and reputation for discretion, UBS is considered one of the most powerful financial institutions globally, though it has faced ongoing criticism for facilitating tax evasion and offshore financing.
Contact Info
- +41 44 234 11 11
- mediarelations@ubs.com
- www.ubs.com
- Zürich, Switzerland / Basel, Switzerland
