Partner Ivan Pictet told Le Temps in a Feb. 24 interview that the country's banking industry may shrink by half if Switzerland abandons secrecy. `Extremely Unpleasant' "That's a bit pessimistic and such a declaration was intended to put pressure on the other side," said Edouard Cuendet, first secretary of the Geneva Private Bankers Association, which represents Geneva based Pictet, Lombard Odier, Mirabaud & Cie and Bordier & Cie. "We received pressure from other countries, particularly from Germany, which was extremely unpleasant." Concerns about Swiss private banking may be overdone since Asian, Latin American and Middle Eastern clients invest in Switzerland for safety, not secrecy, Citigroup Inc analysts including Andrew Coombs and Jeremy Sigee wrote in a March 13 note to investors. Julius Baer's private banking business may lose 11 percent of its client assets, the biggest drop among the publicly traded Zurich based private banks, compared with a 7 percent decline at EFG International and 6 percent drop at Vontobel Holding AG, Citigroup analysts estimate. 
Share:  Partner Ivan <span class="company">Pictet</span> told Le Temps in a Feb. 24 interview that the country's banking industry may shrink by half if Switzerland abandons secrecy. `Extremely Unpleasant' "That's a bit pessimistic and such a declaration was intended to put pressure on the other side," said Edouard Cuendet, first secretary of the Geneva Private Bankers Association, which represents Geneva based <span class="company">Pictet</span>, Lombard Odier, Mirabaud & Cie and Bordier & Cie. "We received pressure from other countries, particularly from Germany, which was extremely unpleasant." <span class="sent"> Concerns about Swiss private banking may be overdone since Asian, Latin American and Middle Eastern clients invest in Switzerland for safety, not secrecy, Citigroup Inc analysts including Andrew Coombs and <span class="analyst">Jeremy Sigee</span> wrote in a March 13 note to investors. </span> Julius Baer's private banking business may lose 11 percent of its client assets, the biggest drop among the publicly traded Zurich based private banks, compared with a 7 percent decline at EFG International and 6 percent drop at Vontobel Holding AG, Citigroup analysts estimate. ...Partner Ivan <span class="company">Pictet</span> told Le Temps in a Feb. 24 interview that the country's banking industry may shrink by half if Switzerland abandons secrecy. `Extremely Unpleasant' "That's a bit pessimistic and such a declaration was intended to put pressure on the other side," said Edouard Cuendet, first secretary of the Geneva Private Bankers A Tweet this 

Initial Writeup, Jan. 30 2008: UBS AG posted the biggest loss ever by a bank after raising fourth-quarter writedowns on securities infected by U.S subprime mortgages to $14 billion. . The bank increased markdowns directly linked to the subprime market to about $12 billion from the $10 billion it forecast in December and said an additional $2 billion of writedowns are for other U.S residential mortgage securities. "Weak" debt-trading revenue and the sale of securities at a loss to cut risky assets contributed to the results, UBS said. "Value declines have extended beyond just subprime-related exposures, to new areas, for which we do not yet have disclosure on exposure size," Jeremy Sigee, an analyst at Citigroup, said in a note to clients.  
Share:  Initial Writeup, Jan. 30 2008: <span class="company">UBS AG</span> posted the biggest loss ever by a bank after raising fourth-quarter writedowns on securities infected by U.S subprime mortgages to $14 billion. . The bank increased markdowns directly linked to the subprime market to about $12 billion from the $10 billion it forecast in December and said an additional $2 billion of writedowns are for other U.S residential mortgage securities. "Weak" debt-trading revenue and the sale of securities at a loss to cut risky assets contributed to the results, UBS said. <span class="sent"> "Value declines have extended beyond just subprime-related exposures, to new areas, for which we do not yet have disclosure on exposure size," <span class="analyst">Jeremy Sigee</span>, an analyst at Citigroup, said in a note to clients. </span>.... The bank increased markdowns directly linked to the subprime market to about $12 billion from the $10 billion it forecast in December and said an additional $2 billion of writedowns are for other U.S residential mortgage securities. "Weak" debt-trading revenue and the sale of securities at a loss to cut risky assets contributed to the results, <span class="company">UBS</span> said. <span class="sent"> "Value declines have extended beyond just subprime-related exposures, to new areas, for which we do not yet have disclosure on exposure size," <span class="analyst">Jeremy Sigee</span>, an analyst at Citigroup, said in a note to clients. </span> "The recently bolstered capital base remains vulnerable to further erosion." . And this part must not exactly instill confidence for <span Tweet this 

The bank was hit by a trading loss of 6.7 billion francs in the quarter, of which about 1.7 billion francs came in December. Credit Suisse said its private bank recorded net new assets of 50.9 billion francs in 2008, but only 2 billion in the fourth quarter, as strong net client inflows of 13.8 billion francs were offset by deleveraging. "Inflows in the private bank look disappointing. A good aspect is that they have said January was positive, but the first impression is that the report is weak," said Citibank analyst Jeremy Sigee.  
Share:  The bank was hit by a trading loss of 6.7 billion francs in the quarter, of which about 1.7 billion francs came in December. <span class="company">Credit Suisse</span> said its private bank recorded net new assets of 50.9 billion francs in 2008, but only 2 billion in the fourth quarter, as strong net client inflows of 13.8 billion francs were offset by deleveraging. "Inflows in the private bank look disappointing. <span class="sent"> A good aspect is that they have said January was positive, but the first impression is that the report is weak," said Citibank analyst <span class="analyst">Jeremy Sigee</span>. </span>...<span class="sent">A good aspect is that they have said January was positive, but the first impression is that the report is weak," said Citibank analyst <span class="analyst">Jeremy Sigee</span>. </span> Walter Berchthold, CEO of private banking at <span class="company">Credit Suisse</span>, said half the deleveraging happened in Switzerland while inflows mainly came from the U.S onshore business: "I think the worst is behind us," he said, talking about the trend in deleveraging. <span class="company">Credit Suisse</span> said it had achieved about 50 percent of its targeted job cuts to bring headcount down to 47,800 by the end of 2008. It reiterated a target of paring its investment bank to 17,500 staff by the end of 2009 from 19,700 at the end of 2008. Dougan said <span class="company">Credit Suisse</span>, which contrary to UBS did not need state help, will focus more on private banking, where he sees the best grow Tweet this 

At the investment bank, the management is caught between pressure from shareholders to cut costs and discontent among employees facing a reduction in bonuses, which may delay the unit's turnaround, according to analysts. UBS said it cut the 2008 bonus pool for staff, excluding U.S brokers, by more than 80 percent to less than 2 billion francs. Keeping `Rainmakers' "It would be surprising if the bank could hold on to key senior rainmakers in their core businesses after such a reduced payout," Hoffmann-Becking said. "At a minimum we should see bankers going into nine-to-five mode." The pretax profit goal of 4 billion francs, set last May by Jerker Johansson , the head of the securities unit, probably won't be reached this year or even next, according to estimates from analysts including Citigroup Inc.'s Jeremy Sigee .  
Share:  At the investment bank, the management is caught between pressure from shareholders to cut costs and discontent among employees facing a reduction in bonuses, which may delay the unit's turnaround, according to analysts. <span class="company">UBS</span> said it cut the 2008 bonus pool for staff, excluding U.S brokers, by more than 80 percent to less than 2 billion francs. Keeping `Rainmakers' "It would be surprising if the bank could hold on to key senior rainmakers in their core businesses after such a reduced payout," Hoffmann-Becking said. "At a minimum we should see bankers going into nine-to-five mode." <span class="sent"> The pretax profit goal of 4 billion francs, set last May by Jerker Johansson , the head of the securities unit, probably won't be reached this year or even next, according to estimates from analysts including Citigroup Inc.'s <span class="analyst">Jeremy Sigee</span> . </span> Tweet this 

"We'll put him to the test and find out whether he can or cannot do it." The investment bank's goal for 4 billion francs in pretax profit, set by Johansson last May, won't be reached this year or even next, according to estimates from analysts including Citigroup Inc.'s Jeremy Sigee and JPMorgan's Abouhossein. Losing Market Share Ten months into Johansson's tenure, the new heads of the fixed-income unit, hired late last year, announced that further "radical change" is needed to return that business to profitability. UBS plans to exit the real estate and securitization, and so-called exotic structured products businesses, Carsten Kengeter and Jeff Mayer said in a Jan. 21 memo that didn't mention Johansson. Todd Morakis , who ran commodities, Sascha Prinz and David Sacco , co-heads of global rates, and credit head Chris Ryan will leave the bank, the memo to employees said. 
Share:  "We'll put him to the test and find out whether he can or cannot do it." <span class="sent"> The investment bank's goal for 4 billion francs in pretax profit, set by Johansson last May, won't be reached this year or even next, according to estimates from analysts including Citigroup Inc.'s <span class="analyst">Jeremy Sigee</span> and <span class="company">JPMorgan</span>'s Abouhossein. </span> Losing Market Share Ten months into Johansson's tenure, the new heads of the fixed-income unit, hired late last year, announced that further "radical change" is needed to return that business to profitability. UBS plans to exit the real estate and securitization, and so-called exotic structured products businesses, Carsten Kengeter and Jeff Mayer said in a Jan. 21 memo that didn't mention Johansson. Todd Morakis , who ran commodities, Sascha Prinz and David Sacco , co-heads of global rates, and credit head Chris Ryan will leave the bank, the memo to employees said. Tweet this