Former UBS and Credit Suisse Chief Executive Oswald Grübel has publicly supported Swiss Finance Minister Karin Keller-Sutter in her dispute with UBS over proposed capital requirements. In an interview with SonntagsZeitung, Grübel emphasized that large banks are not purely private entities but serve broader public interests, with the state acting as the ultimate stakeholder in crisis scenarios.
Grübel dismissed UBS’s argument that the additional CHF 20 billion in required equity capital would undermine its competitiveness or weaken Switzerland’s financial sector. While acknowledging a decline in capital returns, he stated that stricter regulations would not erode the financial hub’s stability. "You cannot criticize the state for poor oversight on one hand and then oppose stricter rules on the other," he said.
The former bank executive also rejected the feasibility of isolating a failing international banking unit during a crisis, warning that such an approach could trigger a global economic downturn. Grübel characterized the consolidation of Switzerland’s banking sector—now dominated by a single global institution—as a technical reduction in risk compared to the pre-merger landscape, when UBS and Credit Suisse together held a far larger balance sheet.
Criticism was directed at Credit Suisse’s former management, which Grübel described as having "liquidated itself during prosperous times," highlighting a recurring pattern where risk management deteriorates after prolonged periods of stability. He also criticized the broader decline of Switzerland’s financial sector over recent decades, attributing part of the erosion to Swiss banks’ shift toward international expansion rather than attracting foreign clients to domestic operations.
