UBS Group chief executive officer Sergio Ermotti sees the potential for consolidation among Italian banks as a way to strengthen the country’s financial institutions.

In an interview with Il Sole 24 Ore published on Saturday (Apr 6), Ermotti said it would also be “positive” to think about creating global banks based in Europe, adding that it won’t happen in the short term.

“It would be good to think about creating international champions based in Europe,” he told the Italian newspaper.

Ermotti said there are banks with the “breadth and capacity” to grow with cross-border operations, but that doing it organically is “practically impossible”.

On Friday, at the Ambrosetti workshop in Cernobbio, Italy, Ermotti said European banks won’t be able to compete with Wall Street unless the bloc finishes work on unifying markets for banks and capital. He said the region shouldn’t just rely on crises such as the near-collapse of Credit Suisse in 2023 to prompt mergers. 

UBS acquired Credit Suisse in a government-orchestrated rescue about a year ago. Ermotti returned to the helm of UBS to lead the integration between the two. 

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Since closing the takeover of Credit Suisse in June, UBS has outlined major targets for the integration of its former competitor, including about US$13 billion in cost savings, a boost from about US$10 billion previously announced. The bank also confirmed its profitability targets through 2026.  BLOOMBERG