UBS
UBS Group AG is a multinational investment bank and financial services company founded and based in Switzerland. Headquartered simultaneously in Zürich and Basel, it maintains a presence in all major financial centres as the largest Swiss banking institution and the largest private bank in the world. UBS investment bankers and private bankers are known for their strict bank–client confidentiality and culture of banking secrecy. Because of the bank's large positions in the Americas, EMEA and Asia Pacific markets, the Financial Stability Board considers it a global systemically important bank. Apart from private banking, UBS provides wealth management, asset management and investment banking services for private, corporate and institutional clients with international service. UBS manages the largest amount of private wealth in the world, counting approximately half of The World's Billionaires among its clients. UBS also maintains a global investment bank and is considered a primary market maker. The bank also maintains numerous underground bank vaults, bunkers and storage facilities for gold bars around the Swiss Alps and internationally. Partly due to its banking secrecy, it has 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. As of December 2023, UBS is the seventh largest bank in Europe with total assets worth over €1.554 trillion. It is one of the eight global "Bulge Bracket" banks. It has over CHF 3.2 trillion in assets under management (AUM), approximately CHF 2.8 trillion of which are invested assets. In June 2017, its return on invested capital was 11.1%, followed by Goldman Sachs' 9.35%, and JPMorgan Chase's 9.456%. 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 late 2016, UBS established a blockchain technology research lab in London to advance its cyber security and encryption of client activities. Based on regional deal flow and political influence, UBS is considered one of the "biggest, most powerful financial institutions in the world". 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. UBS is a primary dealer and Forex counterparty of the U.S. Federal Reserve.
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