Credit Suisse CEO joins UBS Executive Board

Credit Suisse CEO Ulrich Körner will join UBS's management committee, the largest Swiss bank announced on Tuesday, unveiling its teams after the acquisition of its rival. UBS expects that "the legal closing" of the merger will occur "in the coming weeks," it said in a statement, while specifying that the two banks will continue to operate independently initially, the merger being done gradually. Although merged, the two banks will initially retain their own subsidiaries and branches.

Ulrich Körner, 60, who spent much of his career at UBS before joining Credit Suisse last year in an attempt to turn it around, will join UBS's management committee at the closing of the transaction. "With his knowledge of both organizations, he will be responsible for ensuring business continuity and client care while supporting the integration process," UBS said in the statement. "The integration of legal activities and entities will take time," said Sergio Ermotti, chief executive of UBS.

Read alsoCredit Suisse, Lehman Brothers... The murderous weekends of high finance

A new composition of the teams

The activities will be divided into five divisions, says the bank, which reveals the composition of its teams. Iqbal Khan, a UBS executive who also spent part of his career at Credit Suisse, will remain head of international wealth management while Robert Karofsky, who heads UBS's investment bank, will remain in his position. So does Sabine Keller-Busse, who heads UBS's Swiss business.

UBS also announces the departure of its Chief Financial Officer, Sarah Youngwood. She will step down at the time of the merger and will be replaced by Todd Tuckner, the current Head of Performance and Risk Management for International Wealth Management. An executive at UBS since 2004, he will take up his position as finance officer at the closing of the transaction but is already joining the management committee "with immediate effect," the statement said.

This new management team is "not very surprising," said Andreas Venditti, analyst at Vontobel, in a market commentary. It "clearly reflects the fact that UBS is taking over Credit Suisse," he adds, noting that there will be no former Credit Suisse executives "apart from Ulrich Körner in the new management committee."

UBS agreed on March 19 to buy its compatriot Credit Suisse under pressure from the Swiss authorities for 3 billion Swiss francs and with strong financial guarantees from the federal government and the central bank. Without this rescue, Switzerland's second-largest bank would probably have been insolvent on 20 or 21 March, explained President Alain Berset.