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For some banks, the desire to grow leads them to attempt to be everything, for everyone, everywhere. UBS is different. Its ambition in cash management is only to be everything to its clients in Switzerland – whether they are domestic companies or international ones with local operations – and to Swiss clients abroad.
International operations are run through four hubs. Frankfurt handles all business in the EU, while New York covers the US. Hong Kong is the gateway to mainland China, with Singapore providing a second office to ensure complete coverage of Asia.
“In wealth management, UBS is a truly global bank, but corporate clients have different needs,” says Markus Meyer, head of cash management at UBS. “The regulatory requirements and licences you need in different locations can also be different. And you need to have the balance sheet locally to support your corporate clients. We decided to concentrate our resources on our four international hubs, from which we can support our corporate clients wherever their business takes them.”
UBS also has a particular focus on mid-sized corporates that it knows well and that might not be the target clients of larger global banks in the field, says Meyer.