Corporate

UBS has announced on Thursday that it is launching a Frankfurt headquarters as it consolidates its European wealth management operations. The bank had been considering London, before its vote to leave the European Union, as the UBS Europe headquarters, as well as well Luxembourg.

The new subsidiary, called UBS Europe SE, combines the bank’s German, Italian, Luxembourg, Austrian, Danish, Swedish, Dutch and Spanish wealth management businesses into one legal entity headquartered in the german town. The new set-up is also part of efforts by UBS to streamline its structure as it looks to cut costs by a net 2.1 billion Swiss francs ($2.07 billion) by the end of 2017.

Engine maker Rolls-Royce is axing 800 jobs in its marine division as weakness in the struggling oil and gas sector takes its toll. The UK-based firm said it was too early to say where the jobs axe would fall.

Its marine business employs 4,800 people globally with around 400 in the UK, of which half are based in Bristol and the remainder across offices in the Midlands and a manufacturing site in Dunfermline, Scotland.

Rolls said the job cuts will be made next year as part of an overhaul to make annual cost savings of around £45 million to £50 million. The unit’s workforce has already been slashed from 6,000 in 2015.

Facebook has received a licence from the central bank in Ireland to operate a financial payments service, two years after applying for authorisation, according to the Sunday Business Post.

A subsidiary of the social media giant can now act as a payments provider and electronic money issuer, as well as provide credit transfers and remittance services across the EU, as a result of the regulatory approval. The company has been in the payments space for some time in the US.

UBS, Switzerland’s biggest bank, will increase the salaries of its employees in Switzerland up to and including the middle management by an aggregate 0.8%, the company said in a statement today.

"This overall result is the outcome of negotiations between employer and UBS employee delegations," the bank said in a statement.
The association of banking employees demanded an increase of 1.5% for 2017 and will not be happy about the decision by UBS, which acts as trendsetter for the industry.

Zurich Insurance Group said Thursday it aims to boost profit and save about $1.5 billion over the next few years by cutting costs under its recently-installed chief executive Mario Greco.

The Zurich-based insurer also said it plans to maintain an annual dividend of 17 Swiss francs ($16.95).
The new plan replaces a previous goal to save at least $1 billion by the end of 2018. Zurich Insurance will also target a payout ratio of 75 percent of net income after tax, the firm said in a statement on Thursday.

Volkswagen AG is expected to announce a sweeping restructuring of its embattled VW passenger car brand that includes up to 30,000 job cuts over the next five years and a shift toward electric vehicles and new digital mobility businesses, a source told Reuters Friday.

The announcement is expected to come later in the day at a news conference. It foresees €3.7 billion ($3.9 billion) in annual savings at VW’s namesake brand, which will involve 23,000 job cuts in Germany alone, another source said.

Swiss private bank Julius Baer said on Thursday its assets under management rose 9% in the first ten months of 2016 to 327 billion Swiss francs ($326.45 billion), up from 311 billion francs in the first half of the year.

Switzerland’s third-largest listed bank said net new money in the year to date on an annualised basis was close to 4%, the bottom end of its medium-term target range of 4-6%.

Leonteq, Zurich-based group specializing in structured investment products, intends to reduce the cost by 10 million Swiss francs within the end of 2017. The group, it said in a note today, plans to cut 50 jobs worldwide.
The Zurich company will waive new hires. The Leonteq’s staff should reach 480 units. Since 2018, however, the rate of new hires should grow by 5% a year.