3 Mar 2011

UBS CEO raises doubts about London

Oswald Gruebel, CEO of UBS, wants the British government to state its intentions concerning regulation and taxation that will affect the banking sector in the years to come. Gruebel states that it is very difficult to work in a constantly-changing environment and that there may be a point where it becomes preferable to de-emphasise London as a business hub. In my opinion there is a danger that the City of London may suddenly reach a critical 'tipping point' though it is not obvious if the candidates to take over a large part of the business are really an alternative. Zurich would simply not have the capacity and Frankfurt and Paris are not exactly free from regulatory overgrowth. CS may have be a special case as it has a large hub in its Swiss headquarter and the duality of two large centres pose a management problem in terms of duplication and coordination that American or Asian banks coming to Europe do not have when concentrating European activities in London.

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