Swiss Banks Announce Merger

Tue., Dec. 9, 1997

Compiled From Wire Services

Union Bank of Switzerland and Swiss Bank are combining into the second biggest bank in the world with plans to use their new clout to generate more business in the United States and Asia.

The deal to create the new UBS United Bank of Switzerland values Swiss Bank at about $25 billion and is expected to be completed by next May. The move will cost 13,000 jobs worldwide, more than half of them in Switzerland.

Among those to go will be UBS Chairman Robert Studer, who last winter criticized Christoph Meili, a security guard who salvaged some Holocaust-era archives which the bank had sent to the shredder despite a government ban.

Meili lost his job, underwent a criminal investigation for violating bank secrecy and fled to the United States - where he is hailed as a hero by Jewish groups.

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Swiss Banks Announce Merger

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