UBS history

The Toggenburger Bank was founded in 1863 with an initial share capital of CHF 1.5 million, and specialized as a savings and mortgage bank for individual customers, maintaining a branch office network in eastern Switzerland.

In 1871, the Bankverein coordinated with the German Frankfurter Bankverein to form the Basler Bankverein, a joint-stock company replacing the original Bankverein consortium.

After the new bank started with an initial commitment of CHF 30 million and CHF 6 million of share capital, it soon experienced growing pains when heavy losses in Germany caused it to suspend its dividend until 1879.

In 1895 its name was changed to Basler und Zürcher Bankverein when it merged with the Zürcher Bankverein (Zürich Bank Corporation). At that time it also began commercial banking, which eventually became its principal activity.

After absorbing two other Swiss banks in 1897, the bank adopted the name Schweizerische Bankverein (Swiss Bank Corporation). The bank subsequently acquired or absorbed additional Swiss banks, and it opened branches and representative offices throughout Switzerland and in other countries.

The bank was founded in 1912 in the merger of…

The English name of the bank was originally Swiss Bankverein, but was changed to Swiss Bank Corporation (SBC) in 1917.

Client treasury of Union Bank of Switzerland (today UBS) in 1919

The new company was initially traded under the English name Swiss Banking Association, but in 1921 it was changed to Union Bank of Switzerland (UBS) to mirror its French name, Union de Banques Suisses.

By 1923, offices were established throughout Switzerland.

In 1937, SBC adopted its three-keys logo, designed by Warja Honegger-Lavater, symbolizing confidence, security, and discretion, which remains an integral part in the current-day logo of UBS.

Walking towards the head office of Union Bank of Switzerland (today UBS) in May 1945

Union Bank of Switzerland (today UBS) head office prior to its refurbishment in 1957 (1/2)

In 1961, SBC acquired Banque Populaire Valaisanne, based in Sion, Switzerland and the Banque Populaire de Sierre.

By 1962, Union Bank of Switzerland reached CHF 6.96 billion of assets, narrowly edging ahead of Swiss Bank Corporation to become the largest bank in Switzerland.

Interhandel had become cash-rich when a dispute concerning GAF Materials Corporation, a subsidiary formerly known as General Aniline & Filmand seized by the United States government during the war, was resolved in 1963 and the subsidiary was disposed.

The rapid growth was punctuated by the 1967 acquisition of Interhandel, which made UBS one of the strongest banks in Europe.

The bank opened a full branch office in Tokyo in 1970.

In 1994, SBC acquired Brinson Partners, an asset management firm focused on providing access for United States institutions to global markets, for US$750 million.

The acquisition of S.G. Warburg & Co., a leading British investment banking firm, in 1995 for the price of US$1.4 billion signified a major push into investment banking.

The shredding was in direct violation of a then-recent Swiss law adopted in December 1996 protecting such material.

On 8 December 1997, Union Bank of Switzerland and Swiss Bank Corporation announced an all-stock merger.

The company was founded on June 29, 1998 and is headquartered in Basel, Switzerland.“

On 3 November 2000, UBS merged with Paine Webber, an American stock brokerage and asset management firm led by chairman and CEO Donald Marron.

Both subsidiaries assumed the UBS name in 2003.

UBS was fined $100 million by the FED in 2004 for trading in dollars with Iran and other sanctioned countries.

DRCM, which was a large internal hedge fund, had been started with much publicity in 2005 and invested money both on behalf of UBS and some of its clients.

However, by the end of 2006, UBS began to experience changing fortunes.

In March 2007, Moelis announced that he was leaving the company, and shortly thereafter founded a new business, Moelis & Company.

The Swiss government sold its CHF6 billion stake in UBS in late 2008 at a large profit; Switzerland had purchased convertible notes in 2008 to help UBS clear its balance sheets of toxic assets.

By the summer of 2009, UBS was showing increased signs of stabilization.

On October 26, 2010, UBS announced that its private bank recorded net new funds of CHF900 million during the third quarter, compared to an outflow of CHF5.5 billion in second quarter.

After the elimination of almost 5,000 jobs, UBS announced on 23 August 2011 that it was further cutting another 3,500 positions in order to "improve operating efficiency" and save CHF 1.5 to CHF 2 billion a year.

On October 30, 2012, UBS announced it was cutting 10,000 jobs worldwide in an effort to slim down its investment banking operations, of which 2,500 would be in Switzerland, followed by the United States and Great Britain.

On January 6, 2014 it was reported that UBS had become the largest private banker in the world, with $1.7 trillion in assets.”

In May 2015, media reports revealed UBS is planning to sell its Australian private banking division to some of its management after a review of underperforming businesses was conducted at the company.

In late 2016, the bank created the digital currency "Utility Settlement Coin" (USC) to accelerate inter-bank settlements and established a blockchain technology research laboratory in London.

UBS announced in January 2018 that it does not trade or expose clients to cryptocurrencies as it believes they have little to no elasticity, and are speculatively valued.

In April 2021, UBS reported a $774 million loss from the collapse of US investment fund Archegos Capital Management.