UBP (Union Bancaire Privee) and Société Générale have entered into two exclusive agreements. As a result, UBP will acquire Société Générale’s Swiss private banking activities (Société Générale Private Banking Suisse) as well as their UK and Channel Islands wealth management arm (SG Kleinwort Hambros).
Both transactions are expected to be completed by the end of Q1 2025.
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Furthermore, this is a big step for UBP and its attempts to grow its global presence and its wealth management activities across the world.
In addition, the Société Générale deal will boost UBP in Switzerland and accelerate its expansion in the UK.
UBP will increase its assets under management, which stood at CHF150.8bn ($177.6bn) as at 30 June 2024, by more than CHF25bn.
The onboarding of these teams will also contribute to broadening UBP’s presence in selected jurisdictions, once the correct regulatory licences have been granted, including in the Channel Islands and Gibraltar.
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By GlobalDataUBP CEO, Guy de Picciotto, said: “We are extremely pleased to onboard skilled and experienced teams, and are looking forward to providing clients with an even broader range of high-quality investment solutions. This acquisition represents a meaningful add-on to UBP’s capabilities in Switzerland and reaffirms our long-term commitment to the UK, which will become a new growth engine for the Group.”
In an effort to streamline business processes and boost structural operational effectiveness, Societe Generale disclosed plans to reorganise its head office in France, including 900 job cuts, in February 2024.
Societe Generale has set a target to improve its cost/income ratio steadily and significantly, with the attainment of about €1.7bn ($1.8bn) in gross savings in 2026 compared with 2022, during the presentation of the group’s plan of action in September 2023.
Synergies from ongoing efforts, including the establishment of a new retail bank in France, the digitalisation of Komerční banka’s operations, or the integration of LeasePlan into Ayvens, are included in this figure.
Furthermore, it also includes further savings of over €700m from recently started projects in all group companies to simplify the organisation, improve purchasing procedures, or optimise information systems.
