group ag type aktiengesellschaft ag public company traded as six ubsg six ubsn nyse ubs industry banking financial services predecessor union bank of switzerland and swiss bank corporation merged in 1998 ; painewebber merged in 2000 founded 1862 ; 154 years ago 1862 headquarters z rich basel area served worldwide key people axel a. weber chairman sergio ermotti ceo products investment banking investment management wealth management private banking corporate banking private equity finance and insurance consumer banking mortgages credit cards operating income chf 30.605 billion 2015 1 2 total assets chf 943 billion 2015 2 total equity chf 57.308 billion 2015 2 number of employees 60 099 2015 2 capital ratio 14.5 % 2015 2 website ubs.com ubs ag is a swiss global financial services company incorporated in the canton of zurich 3 and co headquartered in zurich and basel . 4 the company provides wealth management asset management and investment banking services for private corporate and institutional clients worldwide and is generally considered to be a bulge bracket bank . in switzerland these services are also offered to retail clients . 5 the name ubs was originally an abbreviation for the union bank of switzerland but it ceased to be a representational abbreviation after the bank s merger with swiss bank corporation in 1998 . 6 the company traces its origins to 1856 when the earliest of its predecessor banks was founded . 6 ubs is considered the world s largest manager of private wealth assets with over chf 2.2 trillion in invested assets 7 and remains a leading provider of retail banking and commercial banking services in switzerland . its assets under management aum amounted in 2014 to us 1 966.9 billion representing a 15.4 % increase in aum compared to the equivalent data of 2013 . 8 it is the biggest bank in switzerland operating in more than 50 countries with about 60 000 employees around the world as of 2014 . 9 in comparison to other european banks ubs suffered among the largest losses during the subprime mortgage crisis and it was required to raise large amounts of outside capital . the bank received a us 9.7 billion capital injection in 2007 from the government of singapore investment corporation currently gic private limited effective from july 2013 which remains one of the bank s largest shareholders . 10 ubs also received capital from the swiss government further complemented by a series of equity offerings in 2007 2008 and 2009 . contents 1 corporate structure 1.1 ubs investment bank 1.2 ubs asset management 1.3 ubs wealth management & swiss bank 1.4 ubs retail & corporate 1.5 competition 1.6 ubs young professional programs 2 history 2.1 swiss bank corporation 2.1.1 origins and early years 1854 1945 2.1.2 post war years 1945 1998 2.2 union bank of switzerland 2.2.1 origins and early years 1862 1945 2.2.2 activities in world war ii 2.2.3 post war years 1945 1998 2.3 merger of union bank of switzerland and swiss bank corporation 2.4 the failure of long term capital management ltcm 2.5 rising in the ranks 2000 2007 2.6 the beginning of ubs troubles subprime mortgage crisis 2007 2.6.1 impact of the financial crisis 2008 2009 2.7 stabilizing the ship 2009 present 2.8 acquisition history 3 corporate governance 3.1 board of directors 3.2 group executive board 3.3 shareholders 4 controversies 4.1 holocaust assets 1930s 1998 4.2 u.s. trade embargoes 2003 2004 4.3 indian stock market crash 2004 2009 4.4 u.s. discrimination lawsuits 2001 2005 4.5 u.s. tax evasion 2005 4.6 rogue trader scandal 2008 2012 4.7 lehman brothers notes 2007 2013 4.8 u.s. municipal bond market rigging 2001 2013 4.9 arms sales and indian money laundering 2003 2011 4.10 libor benchmark rigging 2005 2012 4.11 currency benchmark rigging 2003 4.12 u.s. mortgage backed securities 2004 2015 4.13 french tax evasion 2002 4.14 german tax evasion 2004 4.15 belgian tax evasion 2004 4.16 timber corruption and malaysian money laundering 2006 4.17 forex manipulation scandal 1991 2015 4.18 puerto rico bond funds 4.19 panama papers 2016 5 corporate social responsibility 6 recognition 7 sponsorship 7.1 sports 7.2 culture 8 recent developments and outlook 9 see also 10 further reading 11 references 12 external links corporate structure edit 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 february 2015 ubs is present in all major financial centers worldwide having offices in more than 50 countries 9 with about 35 % of its approx . 60 000 employees working in the americas 36 % in switzerland 17 % in europe the middle east and africa and 12 % in the asia pacific region . 6 the bank has its major presence in the united states . its american headquarters for investment banking are located in new york city for private wealth management in weehawken new jersey and its sales & trading headquarters can be found in stamford connecticut . company s global business groups are i wealth management ii investment banking and iii asset management . additionally ubs is the leading provider of retail banking and commercial banking services in switzerland as established already in 2009 . 5 overall invested assets are chf 2.689 trillion shareholders equity is chf 55.313 billion and market capitalization is chf 75.147 billion by the end of 2015 . 2 in november 2014 the shares in ubs group ag were listed and started trading as a new holding company on the nyse and six swiss exchange . upon application and with the effect as of 14 january 2015 the shares of the usb ag the subsidiary of the ubs group ag were delisted from the nyse . 11 ubs structure includes six divisions in total corporate center wealth management wealth management americas retail & corporate global asset management investment bank 5 starting already 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 . 12 ubs investment bank edit ubs investment bank provides services covering securities other financial products and research in equities rates credit foreign exchange precious metals and derivatives . 13 as of the end of 2015 the personnel employed at ubs investment bank totalled 5 243 presented in over 35 countries with principal offices in hong kong london new york singapore sydney tokyo and zurich . 2 this business division also advises and provides access to capital markets for corporate and institutional clients governments financial intermediaries alternative asset managers and private investors . 14 ubs investment bank was formerly known as ubs warburg and as warburg dillon read before the merger of union bank of switzerland and swiss bank corporation sbc . within the ubs investment bank division the investment banking department ibd provides a range of advisory and underwriting services including mergers and acquisitions restructuring equity offerings investment grade and high yield debt offerings leveraged finance and leveraged loan structuring and the private placement of equity debt and derivatives . the sales & trading division comprises equities brokering dealing market making and engaging in proprietary trading in equities equity related products equity derivatives and structured products and fx rates and credit frc brokering dealing market making and engaging in proprietary trading in interest rate products credit products mortgage backed securities leveraged loans investment grade and high yield debt currencies structured products and derivative products . ubs investment bank s offices in stamford connecticut . at roughly the size of two american football fields it is the largest column less trading floor in the world . following an expansion in 2002 the trading floor covers 103 000 square foot 9 600 m2 with 40 foot 12 m arched ceilings . over us 1 trillion in assets are traded here every trading day . in june 2011 it was announced that ubs was considering moving its north american headquarters back to new york city and that the bank was looking for office spaces in midtown and in the rebuilt world trade center 15 16 since the early 2000s ubs investment bank has been among the top fee generating investment banks globally . 17 in 2010 ubs ranked no. 5 globally in mergers & acquisitions advisory no. 5 globally in debt capital markets bookrunning no. 5 globally in follow on equity offerings no. 3 in european follow on equity offerings no. 1 in asia m & a advisory no. 2 in asian equity capital markets bookrunning no. 2 in asian follow on equity offerings no. 2 in canadian m & a advisory no. 3 in middle eastern & african mergers & acquisitions advisory and no. 2 in middle eastern & african equity capital markets bookrunning . 18 ubs also ranked no. 1 on the 2010 m & a league tables in australia ahead of macquarie bank and goldman sachs . 19 ubs asset management edit ubs asset management offers equity fixed income currency hedge fund real estate infrastructure and private equity investment capabilities that can also be combined in multi asset strategies . 20 the 1998 ubs sbc merger and subsequent restructuring resulted in the combination of three major asset management operations ubs asset management phillips & drew owned by union bank of switzerland and brinson partners owned by sbc . the investment teams were merged in 2000 and in 2002 the brands were consolidated to become ubs global asset management . 21 at the end of 2015 ubs asset management was responsible for chf 650 billion of invested assets and assets under administration were chf 407 billion . 2 with around 2 300 employees in 24 countries ubs asset management is the largest mutual fund manager in switzerland a leading fund house in europe and one of the largest hedge funds and real estate investment managers in the world . 2 it has main offices in chicago frankfurt hartford hong kong london new york paris singapore sydney tokyo and z rich . 22 ubs wealth management & swiss bank edit ubs s wealth management division offers high net worth individuals around the world with the exception of those served by the division of wealth management americas 1 a range of advisory and investment products and services . as of the end of 2014 ubs wealth management s invested assets totaled chf 947 billion . 2 more than 60 % of total invested assets in ubs wealth management belong to individuals with a net worth of chf 10 million or more . of the remaining 40 % of total invested assets 30 % of the total belong to individuals with net worth between chf 1 million and chf 10 million and the last 10 % of total assets belong to individuals with a net worth of less than chf 1 million . 1 ubs offers brokerage services and products as well as asset management and other investment advisory and portfolio management products and services . 23 24 additionally ubs provides a broad range of securities and savings products that are supported by the firm s underwriting and research activities as well as order execution and clearing services for transactions originated by individual investors . the business is further divided geographically with separate businesses focused on the u.s. and other international markets . 5 25 two thirds of the total invested assets come from europe and switzerland with the final one third coming mainly from the asia pacific region . with its headquarters in switzerland ubs wealth management is present in nearly 50 countries with approximately 230 offices 100 of which are in switzerland . 1 as of the end of 2014 around 16 700 people worldwide were employed by ubs wealth management . 1 ubs wealth management in the u.s. is an outgrowth of the former paine webber brokerage business . the business was initially renamed ubs paine webber in march 2001 after it was acquired by