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ZURICH, May 3 (Reuters) – UBS (UBSG.S) Chief Executive Sergio Ermotti said on Wednesday that the Swiss bank was working on closing its merger with Credit Suisse (CSGN.S) by the end of May or early June.
Speaking at the Finanz ’23 conference in Zurich, Ermotti also repeated his bank’s line that all options were still on the table concerning Credit Suisse’s Swiss business.
In March UBS agreed to takeover its struggling cross-town rival for 3 billion Swiss francs ($3.37 billion) and said it would assume up to 5 billion ($5.61 billion) in losses as part of a deal hastily arranged by Swiss authorities.
On Sunday, NZZ am Sonntag newspaper reported that the country’s largest bank was working towards spinning off Credit Suisse’s domestic unit, with its current head, Andre Helfenstein, expected to run it.
The Swiss newspaper cited a source as saying that UBS had come around to the idea of a spin-off, which it initially ruled out, because of growing public and political pressure.
Ermotti on Wednesday also said it was too early to put a figure on how many jobs would be cut as a result of the merger. “Job cuts will not be avoidable,” he said.
Editing by Tomasz Janowski
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