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Very, very good. I think that if I look at the overall profitability, particularly when looking at the core underlying profits being up 25% year on year with wealth management businesses in in every region growing on a PBT basis, double digits, very strong and I see good inflows in in our alternative business in asset management reaching 300 billions of assets in markets. We delivered the second best quarter on record. So I think that's across the board in Switzerland. We continue to be a stronger partner to our clients, you know, with 40 billions of credits or new credits. So across the board making good progress on the integration, big milestones was achieved. 400,000 clients were migrated in Switzerland in a smooth way. We are now working on delivering the second wave in the third quarter and in non-core and legacy assets. We are making good progress and taking down cost and so I am very pleased.
So even even ahead of expectations in terms of integration? We are on line, we are on track. I mean the integration, I think the next we already achieve nine billions of cost savings out of the 13. So we, we believe by between now and year end we're going to achieve another billion or so and then three billions are going to come in 2026 as we basically shut down all the legacy systems. And and we also complete all the logistical and migrations.
Is UBS seriously looking at possible new headquarter? Look what we are right now. We are very focused on serving our clients, on delivering the on the integration. I think that's and our base case is that we are working also very hard to make sure that we can successfully operate out of Switzerland as a global as a global bank. But I mean, I guess the relationship between UBS and Switzerland looks from the outside. We are rock bottom. Do you need Switzerland? I think that we have a very strong and solid relationship with our clients and, you know, the broader the broader Swiss business community and client space. We we serve more than two and a half million clients, probably even higher, 200,000 SMEs. So we have a very solid and embedded relationship with with the communities where we live and work in Switzerland. So I think that's, you know, I would not really extrapolate some kind of issues to the broader Swiss Switzerland. The vast majority of the people recognize our value and we recognize the value Switzerland brings to us.
What do you think the probability of a change in headquarters today? And have you spoken to any regulators about it? I don't you know, we're not going to speculate on on this matter. As I said, we are very focused on making sure that our case, any decisions that are taken are taken based on facts and based on real numbers and not based on theory of of fears. And and so that sort of the decision making bodies that are asked to take this very important decision, do it with all informations and in an appropriate manner.
What could you do to, I guess, alleviate some of the capital requirements? Well, it depends what is going to be at the end of the day. I think that, of course, we know we we are now focused more on making sure that's true. Like for like comparison of of the proposed regimes is done and you know, hopefully somebody is also going to really look at a proper cost benefit analysis in in in before taking decisions.
But is everything on the table? I mean, could you sell off the US investment bank? Is there anything that you could get rid of to to lower that capital requirement? Look, our our view on that matter is crystal clear. A shrinking is not an option. UBS and Switzerland benefits from our diversification. If you look at this quarter, you know, Switzerland is performing well despite the very challenging environment around interest rates and the economic situation. So but we have offsetting businesses that allow us to benefit from this diversification. Having a global diversified business is is is a strength for us and for Switzerland. And shrinking is definitely not an option.
Given what you know now is buying Credit Suisse still the deal of a century? Well, if you probably if you look at the ad at the weekend, it was definitely a pretty good deal for Switzerland. You know, I was able to resolve a major issues within a few days. Stabilizing the system also thanks to the fact that UBS was there and was strong enough to be a credible counterparty. And these are vis not only clients, but also to the regulatory community worldwide. If I look from an industrial logic standpoint of view, it's even more compelling if you look at what's going on in the competitive landscape. The combination of the two banks makes a very stronger case for for for a bank that is able to reach globally out to in our core activities. From a shareholder selling point of view, I think probably the jury is still out, you know, still a still. And notwithstanding that, you know, you look at how we deliver on our on our profitability, it is quite clear that there is a compelling story, but the capital uncertainties is is quite costly to our shareholders.
What does that mean for dividends going forward or share buybacks? Well, look, we our dividend policy is still very clear. We we want to continue to have a growth in our underlying dividends. We are, as we speak, accruing for a double digit increase in our dividends. We are also executing on our capital return plans through share buybacks. And, you know, the new regulation in any case won't be coming effect before 2027. So between now and then, we're going to have to really calibrate what we do. And, you know, for the future, we're going to assess the situation at the end of the year and communicate early on in 2026.
Was what about Basel three? I mean, again, there seems to be a movement to, you know, go ahead with with Basel that could coincide with the U.S. actually rolling back a lot of the regulation. Well, as far as we are concerned, Switzerland has introduced Basel three effective on January 1st this year. So we are fully implementing Basel three. And I think that's we believe that at the end of the day, also in the U.S., a kind of form of Basel three will be implemented. And so probably it's it's fair to say that some kind of adjustments to regulation are needed because not everything that has been done post the financial crisis was correct. Actually, a lot of things were correct. But the problem was a took too long time to recognize some shortcomings of the new regulations. Most likely this is not is now going to be addressed, hopefully so in the U.S. And this will allow us to mean, you know, all the systems with a degree of certainty to manage the future with, you know, more clarity.
But do you worry that the U.S. will become stronger or are you seeing, for example, client behavior moving away from U.S. banks, preferring, you know, European or Swiss banks, not European banks, American banks are strong. I don't think that they are going to necessarily, you know, change that kind of situation. Of course, you know, having a predictable and and strong capital regime is is a competitive advantage. It's it's also a pragmatic one. And so I do hope that the rest of the world more or less will align to it. But, you know, I would say the Basel three is a good standard to start with. And so I don't expect the situation from a competitive landscape to change much in the next few years.
But do you see actually international clients shunning U.S. banks to to bank more with with European ones? No, not necessarily. I think that's also this theory that people are moving really away from the dollar is probably more of a tactical issue than it is a massive, massive asset allocation shift.
It what I mean, when you look at the market views, of course, it's a big week for trade. I think we also have GDP a little bit later in the US. But how you see it going forward? Well, I mean, the good news is that now we have probably a higher degree of predictability on what the outcome of this tariff discussion will be. If if we land at around 15% on average is a base case scenario, which in any case is something that needs to be digested. This is six times higher than what we had at the beginning of the year. This brings some kind of inflation. If you think from an exporter standpoint of you, if you're a Swiss or a European exporter, you are basically seeing your clients in the U.S. have to pay 15% more because of tariffs, plus another 10 to 15% more because of effects. And this is a quite big change. So it remains to be seen what's happening in Europe in terms of economic effect, but also. What is the consequences for inflation in the U.S. And this will then translate into potentially consequences for the monetary policies of central banks.
I mean, are our clients saying, look, they're also worried that this is not it for tariffs, that they can always move back. So actually, the uncertainty is. Well, that's that's a fair point. I think that's what what investors and clients, corporate and institutional investors or private investors want to see is stability. I mean, first of all, we need to reach agreements and then they need to see that there is a degree of predictability and stability in these agreements. There is a degree of news, fatigue, fatigue in the markets. So people are want to be able to act with certainty.
When you look at the Swiss franc, I mean, has it brought more inflows into into some of your your units? No, I think this is really I mean, it is fair to say that at the end of the day, a lot of buying of Swiss francs is done by Swiss institutions and rather than foreign investors.
What can you tell us about the case of the six, I think UBS employees that were selling FX packages that were complicated to people that didn't understand the risk? Well, this is a matter that is affecting less than 200 clients in a very specific locations. And we are talking on and full of client advisor. So basically we had more than 3000 clients using this products within a very defined asset allocation and risk appetite framework. So when we identified that this was an issue, we addressed it and, and we took the appropriate actions to to compensate the clients that were affected. And and this has been addressed in our Q2 results. And as you could see, it was not really a meaningful number in that in the big scheme of our results. So I think that the situation is not indicating to me any issues around governance or suitability controls or that or either, you know, the unfortunate outcome of of people not using it in the right way.
So I know you've in the past told me that, you know, with the integration, you were flying the plane and building the plane right now, how much time do you spend thinking about these capital requirements and how UBS could change because of that compared to actually, you know, I guess building a business too much compared to, you know, the fact that we are going through the biggest integration into the into financial services and so in the banking industry and that we are facing a lot of challenges, I think one would think that I have to spend much more time on that and also planning the future because it's very important for us. So so now I have to with the rest of the team, you know, that supports me greatly. We have to, you know, basically manage all this for challenges. So we need to think about the future, manage today, manage the integration and also try to address and think about how to make sure that so, you know, whatever decision is taken here in Switzerland is taken with good information and facts.
But do you think that's lacking at the moment that policymakers are doing it without thinking too deeply or that they don't understand what you need? Looks like. Looks that way to me.