Credit Suisse has eleven branches in Aargau, one on Bahnhofstrasse in Aarau.
The government council should take measures to dampen the consequences of the Credit Suisse takeover by UBS in the canton of Aargau. The center called for this with a proposal a few months ago. The government council’s answer is now available.
UBS will fully integrate Credit Suisse. The big bank will cut 3,000 jobs across Switzerland, as it announced at the end of August. 1,000 layoffs are to be announced by the end of 2024, the rest in 2025. A few weeks after this announcement, the center faction of the Grand Council submitted a postulate to the government council.
How does he intend to cushion as much as possible the closure of Credit Suisse branches and the resulting layoffs of staff? That’s what the center around speaker Harry Lütolf wanted to know. In particular, the government council should show whether the Aargauische Kantonalbank (AKB) or other banks could take over Credit Suisse customers and staff in whole or in part.
“De facto collapse of the CS”
The government council is concerned about the “de facto collapse of Credit Suisse,” he now writes in his answer. He welcomes all efforts that the CS integration by UBS could have on the Aargau economy. However, the government council rejects the postulate and its demand.
Because: The government council sees neither the necessity nor the possibility that the canton could take measures. Regarding the lack of necessity, he writes: “There is competition in retail banking, the labor market is also characterized by a shortage of skilled workers in the financial sector.”
The government council does not recognize any undersupply in the canton when it comes to financial services. “The economy and the population have sufficient access to credit and cash,” he writes. “Competition works thanks to cantonal banks, regional banks, Raiffeisen banks, UBS, Postfinance and new digital providers in the area of loans and payment services.”
Closure of bank branches “not negative”
The government council does not rule out the possibility that the number of bank branches could decrease. However, this probably has primarily to do with the digitalization of retail banking. In international comparison, Switzerland tends to lag behind. “This development should not be viewed negatively,” he writes.
The government council also justifies the lack of need for measures by saying that “no disruptions” are to be expected in the labor market. The finance and insurance sectors were among the three with the greatest shortage of skilled workers. The unemployment rate in Aargau is low at 2.1 percent (September 2023).
When it comes to the lack of possibility for cantonal measures, the government council argues with the legal basis. For this to happen, there would have to be disruptions to public order and security as well as social emergencies. Instead, Credit Suisse’s situation has stabilized since its takeover by UBS. The government council does not recognize any further exploitation in the banking market.
Intervention via AKB is also not possible: it runs branches in communities where CS also operates them. However, AKB would have to assess for itself whether taking over branches and their staff would be economical. The government council could only enforce takeovers of branches by AKB as an emergency legal measure, he writes. However, such a measure is currently not justified.
And which of the eleven CS branches will UBS close? “At the moment it is still too early to be able to make a statement on this,” replies a UBS spokesman. The same applies to the number of terminations in Aargau.
2023-12-27 08:11:11
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