UBS sees low interest rates for next 18 months

The new head of UBS Switzerland, Martin Blessing, told Swiss newspaper SonntagsZeitung that he expects interest rates across Europe to remain low for the next 12-18 months. Consequently, Blessing cast doubt on rival Credit Suisse's 2018 target of 2.3 billion Swiss francs ($2.32 billion) at its Swiss business, saying that "to reach such a goal, the market environment would have to change dramatically."

And, over job places, he added that huge cuts jobs aren't scheduled; however, Blessing said that probably in the next few years there will be a slight drop in the number of employees.

Lukas Gähwiler's successor, who went into operation last September, also stated that the Swiss UBS entities will not be listed separately on the stock exchange, as opposed to Credit Suisse.
"I do not see what benefits this decision would bring to our customers," he added.