UBS vs Credit Suisse: A lesson in corporate strategy for all CEOs
UBS and Credit Suisse will always be compared because of their Swiss origins. But the lessons to be learned from this month’s cover story have nothing to do with nationality and everything to do with international corporate strategies: one that worked and one that failed.
Learned professors and highly paid consultants have made it their life’s work unravelling the mysteries of corporate strategy. Banks shell out millions to hear their advice. But ultimately there is no substitute for looking at practical examples of the real thing.
Capital markets editor Geraldine Lambe and US correspondent Sophie Roell spent a couple of months researching the whys and wherefores of how UBS overtook Credit Suisse. The resulting article is essential reading for every CEO.
More insights into the CEO’s vision can be garnered from reading our interview with Ana Patricia Botín, chairman of Banesto, in this month’s Karina’s Kolumn, and the comments of Erste Bank’s chief executive Andreas Treichl in retail strategy.
Basel II is another subject never far from the CEO’s thoughts and in Viewpoint, ING’s vice-chairman Cees Maas looks at the difficulties of implementing the most critical piece of regulation in the banking world. Basel II cannot be discussed without raising the issue of banking technology: will the more advanced banks fare better?
Recognising the leading role that technology plays in banking, The Banker established its technology awards which are now in their third year. The response to these has been extremely positive and our judging panels had their work cut out in reaching their final decisions (see page 26). The awards ceremony will be held at London’s Café Royal on June 2.
In the capital markets, financial technology is what provides a competitive edge and this month we explore the use of derivatives in creating Sharia-compliant structures and in solving the vexed problems of asset and liability mismatches in insurance and pensions companies. This month’s Agenda is an interview with HSBC’s leading capital markets executives Tony Murphy and Joseph Petri, Team of the Month is DrKW’s pfandbrief team and Issuer Strategy examines the Dutch State Treasury Agency.
In Western Europe we look at the kerfuffle in Italy when foreign predators came on the scene and the challenges facing UK building societies. There is a special supplement on Spain. In Eastern Europe we explore prospects in Polish banking and interview Russia’s deputy head of the central bank.
Securitisation in Thailand, microcredit in Cambodia and Pakistan make up our Asian section, while in the Middle East and Africa we have two major supplements on Kuwait and on African finance. Articles on the Central America Free Trade Agreement (Cafta) and the court battle over Argentine debt complete our country coverage for June.
