UBS CEO sees Archegos hit as one-off, plays down job cuts

[ZURICH] UBS group chief executive Ralph Hamers sees the hit from collapsed investment fund Archegos as a "unique event", he told Swiss newspaper Blick.

"Archegos is not a systemic failure, but rather a unique event that can hardly find comparisons. In this case, there was a lack of transparency. We will no longer accept that. In any case, we have learned our lessons from it," he said in the interview.

UBS, the world's largest wealth manager, unveiled a US$774 million revenue hit in the first quarter from the default of Archegos, which detracted from results that included record high client activity levels.

Mr Hamers also played down reports that Switzerland's biggest bank was cutting hundreds of jobs.

"In order to reduce costs, we need to cut jobs in certain areas. In others, however, we are creating new jobs. The bottom line is that the number of our employees will remain more or less the same," he was quoted as saying.

REUTERS