Proxy adviser Ethos: UBS should have spun off CS' Swiss business (updated)

Prospector Metals

31/08/2023 10:32

(Adds detail on UBS shareholding)
       ZURICH, Aug 31 (Reuters) - UBS  UBSG.S  should have spun
off Credit Suisse's Swiss business, proxy adviser Ethos said on
Thursday, after Switzerland's No. 1 bank annnounced plans to
fully integrate its former rival's home market business.
    "We are disappointed as the spin-off would (have) been a
better option to avoid a major systemic risk for Switzerland, an
important negative impact on employment and issues for the fair
competition of the Swiss financial market," Ethos Director
Vincent Kaufmann said in an emailed statement.
    Ethos, which is composed of a number of Swiss pension funds
and public utility foundations that held stakes in both groups
before the merger, represents some 3%-5% of shares in the newly
combined group, Kaufmann said.
        Ethos, which has backed a class-action lawsuit seeking a
better price from UBS for the takeover, said UBS' massive
second-quarter financial gain related to the takeover - which
the group reported as part of its earnings on Thursday -
confirmed Credit Suisse was "significantly undervalued" in the
deal.

 (Reporting by Noele Illien; writing by Brenna Hughes Neghaiwi;
editing by Friederike Heine)
 ((brenna.neghaiwi@thomsonreuters.com))