For years employees of UBS and Credit Suisse have been wandering in and out of Switzerland's two main banks, often boosting their career and pay grades along the way. A look at the top ranks of the banks shows which managers are well-versed in both cultures.
Axel Lehmann - Credit Suisse Chairman
Axel Lehmann has only been with Credit Suisse for a total of one and a half years. He spent a mere three months on the bank’s board of directors when he suddenly found himself in the spotlight when the chairman at the time had to leave the bank overnight for allegedly breaching Covid quarantine rules.
Before his short stint at Credit Suisse, Lehmann was UBS’s group chief operating officer. He was also as a member of the board of directors for the group and the board of UBS Switzerland.
Ulrich Koerner - Credit Suisse CEO
Ulrich Koerner held the CEO position for nine months before the announced takeover on Sunday. It wasn’t the first time he’d been in the bank’s executive suite. More than a decade before, he circulated in Credit Suisse’s executive ranks. When he was passed over for a promotion in 2009, he stepped over to the rival and became UBS’s chief operating officer.
In 2021, he gave Credit Suisse another go as CEO of the bank’s Asset Management. When former Credit Suisse CEO Thomas Gottstein, brought to the brink over Archegos and Greensill, threw in the towel last summer, Koerner was more than ready to step into his shoes.
Iqbal Khan - UBS Wealth Management President
Iqbal Khan finds himself in the right corner of the banking landscape after rescuing himself in 2019 from the spooky surveillance of his over-controlling Credit Suisse boss at the time.
His well-orchestrated escape led him to the top of UBS’s wealth management unit, which he now presides over. Although Khan has the ideal experience to integrate what is left of Credit Suisse’s business with the super-rich into UBS’s wealth management, digging into his past could bring back some painful memories.
Markus Diethelm - Credit Suisse General Counsel
Markus Diethelm is likely to be able to breeze back into UBS, with his ten months as general counsel at Credit Suisse appearing as a blip in his legal career, of which 13 years were at UBS.
Of course, his position at UBS has been filled by Barbara Levi in the meantime, but given the amount of litigation the banks face, an extra pair of hands are unlikely to go amiss.
Sabine Keller-Busse - UBS Switzerland Chair
Sabine Keller-Busse’s first banking job was at Credit Suisse where she headed private clients in the Zurich region. Her Credit Suisse tenure lasted from 2008 to 2010 and came after a career as a consultant at McKinsey.
Both experiences paved the way for her to become the chief operating officer of UBS Switzerland 12 years ago. It might be a long time ago, but her Credit Suisse experience could be useful for her further trajectory at UBS.
Joanne Hannaford - Credit Suisse Chief Technology and Operations Officer and Executive
Joanne Hannaford joined Credit Suisse a year ago after a long career at Goldman Sachs. Her very first job in 1992 however, was at UBS where she spent two years as an equities analyst.
Christian Bluhm - UBS Group Chief Risk Officer
Christian Bluhm was at Credit Suisse between 2004 and 2008 where he was head of credit portfolio management.
