UBS

UBS Group AG (stylized simply as UBS) is a Swiss multinational investment bank and financial services firm founded and based in Switzerland, with headquarters in both Zurich and Basel. It holds a strong foothold in all major financial centres as the largest Swiss banking institution and the world's largest private bank. UBS manages the largest amount of private wealth in the world, counting approximately half of The World's Billionaires among its clients, with over US$6 trillion in assets (AUM). Based on international deal flow and political influence, the firm is considered one of the "biggest, most powerful financial institutions in the world". UBS is also a leading market maker and one of the eight global 'Bulge bracket' investment banks. Due to its large presence across the Americas, EMEA and Asia–Pacific markets, the Financial Stability Board considers it a global systemically important bank and UBS is widely considered to be the largest and most sophisticated "truly global investment bank" in the world, given its market-leading positions in every major financial centre globally.

UBS investment bankers and private bankers are known for their strict bank–client confidentiality and culture of banking secrecy. Apart from private banking, UBS provides wealth management, asset management and investment banking services for private, corporate and institutional clients with international service. The bank also maintains numerous underground bank vaults, bunkers and storage facilities for gold bars around the Swiss Alps and internationally. UBS acquired rival Credit Suisse in an emergency rescue deal brokered by the Swiss government and its Central bank in 2023, following which UBS' AUM increased to over $5 trillion along with an increased balanced sheet of $1.6 trillion.

In June 2017, its return on invested capital was 11.1%, followed by Goldman Sachs' 9.35%, and JPMorgan Chase's 9.456%. The company's capital strength, security protocols, and reputation for discretion have yielded a substantial market share in banking and a high level of brand loyalty. Alternatively, it receives routine criticism for facilitating tax noncompliance and off-shore financing. Partly due to its banking secrecy, it has also been at the centre of numerous tax avoidance investigations undertaken by U.S., French, German, Israeli and Belgian authorities. UBS operations in Switzerland and the United States were respectively ranked first and second on the 2018 Financial Secrecy Index. UBS is a primary dealer and Forex counterparty of the U.S. Federal Reserve.

UBS is a joint-stock company (Aktiengesellschaft), pursuant to Swiss laws. Its shares are listed at the SIX Swiss Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). As of December 2020, UBS is present in all major financial centres worldwide, such as New York, London, Zürich, Berlin, Sydney, and Singapore. UBS has offices in 50 countries, with about 30% of its approximately 73,000 employees working in the Americas, 30% in Switzerland, 19% in Europe (excluding Switzerland), the Middle East and Africa and 21% in the Asia Pacific region. The bank has a major presence in the United States. Its American headquarters for investment banking are located in New York City, and for private wealth management advisory in Weehawken, New Jersey. They have sales & trading, along with private wealth management offices in Stamford, Connecticut.^{[citation needed]}

The company's global business groups provide services that entail: global wealth management, investment banking, asset management and personal & corporate banking. UBS is the leading provider of retail banking and commercial banking services in Switzerland, and they have been on top of the Swiss market since in 2009. Looking holistically, UBS' overall invested assets is $3.101 billion, shareholders' equity is $52.928 billion and market capitalization is $45.907 billion at the end of the year 2018. In November 2014, the shares in UBS Group AG were listed and started trading as a new holding company at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the SIX Swiss Exchange. Upon application and with effect as of 14 January 2015, the shares of UBS AG, a subsidiary of the UBS Group AG, were delisted from the NYSE. As of September 2019, the largest institutional shareholders are:

As of 31 December 2024, the geographical distribution of the shareholders presents itself as follows:

As of June 2018, UBS's corporate structure includes four divisions in total, namely:

Starting on 9 June 2003, all UBS business groups, including UBS Paine Webber and UBS Warburg, were rebranded under the UBS moniker following company's start of operations as a unified global entity.