US and Canadian banks may have had a head start in generative AI, but some European banks are trying to close the gap. Those in charge of harnessing the technology at big banks in Europe say they are gaining confidence in its use: adapting marketing shots to certain client profiles, helping sales managers to sift through product policies and much more.

UBS has increased its investment and development of leading FX technology builds notably over the past three years, especially since its recent acquisition of Credit Suisse, with a number of significant innovations having been brought to market this year.

UBS’s acquisition of Credit Suisse boosted its capabilities in the Swiss FX market. Already a dominant player in Switzerland, the deal allowed the bank to offer a comprehensive range of FX services to a larger, more diverse client base. It also enabled it to deepen its expertise, particularly in the Swiss franc market, where client demand for specialized insights is growing.

UBS has demonstrated resilience and adaptability in the face of significant organizational changes and challenging market conditions, maintaining a strong focus on differentiated client service through consistent liquidity provision, competitive pricing and innovative content.

Through the breadth of its market liquidity, product scale and global footprint, UBS has built a strong reputation as the partner of choice for its institutional, retail, corporate and wealth management client base. Most recently, UBS has been evolving its FX trading platform based on four key principles: agility, resilience, scalability and comprehensiveness. The result of this sustained focus has been the development of new trading capabilities, such as market-making on firm trading venues and developing access to streaming swap liquidity. UBS has also invested heavily in pre- and post-trade analytics to deliver market insights and improve execution outcomes for clients as part of its ‘FX Engine Room’ offering of sales and analytical toolkits. As of 2024, across the bank’s various FX businesses, it daily trades over $125 billion electronically with more than 2,500 clients across the globe.

UBS expanded its FX sales capabilities by leveraging cutting-edge tools and platforms to enhance operational efficiency and client engagement.

UBS has built a formidable reputation as a key liquidity provider across institutional, retail, corporate and wealth management domains, leveraging its expansive market liquidity, product scale and global distribution network.

UBS has continued to evolve the FX offering on its UBS Neo platform over the past four years, with the bank making significant strategic investments in the last 12 months that further refine the offering.

New Zealand’s high interest rate cycle has significantly impacted borrowing demand and funding costs, marking the end of an era of record profits for banks. Despite these challenges, ASB Bank, owned by the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, has demonstrated resilience during the awards period and is New Zealand’s best bank.

Some analysts were quick to call it the deal of the century. The first takeover of a global systemically important bank that repeated management errors and regulatory failure had brought to the brink of collapse was a rescue by its domestic rival. It was a humiliation for Switzerland that, with customers pulling their money in vast quantities over several months, Credit Suisse was left to carry on to the very brink of insolvency.

Nerves were jangling hard in Europe last year, when the panic that had seen many tens of billions of dollars’ worth of deposits flee large US regional banks in a matter of hours suddenly began emerging in Europe.

BDO Unibank, the Philippines’ largest bank, turned in an exceptional financial performance in 2023, cementing its position as the country’s best bank.

After depositors fled the wreckage of the US regional banks in 2023 and customers started jumping overboard from a sinking Credit Suisse, even more banks could have been dragged into a systemic crisis. But UBS, rebuilt after the global financial crisis as a strong, sustainable and well-managed institution, responded to the rescue call from a fellow G-Sib. It rescued Switzerland as a financial centre, stopped the panic from spreading and struck a good deal for its own shareholders. Credit Suisse was not a gift. The integration will be tough. But UBS has got off to a good start and could soon relaunch its own growth story.

Bank Mandiri, Indonesia’s largest bank by assets, achieved a record net profit of $3.6 billion in 2023, an impressive 34% year on year rise – the highest in the industry and significantly outpacing the other four tier-one banks. Led by president director Darmawan Junaidi, it retains the award for Indonesia’s best bank.

The bank’s decision to sell a large minority stake in Credit Suisse’s former China JV to BSAM, a Beijing-based fund it has known for decades, is a setback for Ken Griffin’s Citadel Securities. The US firm is still committed to expanding in China’s troubled market.

John Mathews, head of UHNW Americas for UBS in New York, tells Euromoney why the US’s private banking model is so successful, why the Swiss firm is really in the life counselling business, and explains why it has targeted US ultra-high net worth clients.

The good news is that bank executives don’t see big loan losses ahead; the bad news is that they lack the confidence and vision to invest in the business.

Credit Suisse’s domestic bank was arguably the failed group’s best and strongest division. One year after the rescue, UBS is not the only one trying to feast on its domestic wealth-management and corporate-banking leftovers. Other Swiss and international players also hope to benefit from the longer-term fallout in Switzerland. Will the rush to pick up the remnants of the fallen champion pay off?

UBS’s wealth-management business had already seen enviable performance over the 10 years since it set itself the ambition of being the world’s leading global wealth manager in 2012. But, with the acquisition of Credit Suisse, the last 12 months have seen it take another step forward.

The UBS chief investment office’s sustainable and impact investing strategist wants to avoid measurement for the sake of measurement, but responding to client demand for more data while ensuring its readability remains a challenge.

Chinese fintech Ant Group has offered UBS a reported $250 million for Credit Suisse’s China joint venture, outbidding Citadel Securities. It is a timely reminder that despite its current malaise, Asia’s largest economy is still a great long-term place to invest.

The hard graft of integrating Credit Suisse still lies ahead, leaving UBS as a concept stock and hopeful investors looking through the efforts of the next three years.

A $3.5 billion deal attracts $36 billion of demand, answering the question of whether Swiss banks can return to this market after Credit Suisse's collapse.

UBS is recognised in the FX industry as a leading liquidity provider with a presence in all key trading centres around the globe. It is also the largest global wealth manager, with an unrivalled global footprint when it comes to accessing private clients. This has given UBS a unique opportunity that it has successfully capitalised on.

UBS has invested and innovated in its liquidity offering for the last 20 years – the result is its strong reputation for quality and reliability, particularly during periods of market dislocation.

UBS's single-dealer platform, UBS Neo, has benefited from a full front-to-back transformation over the last four years, enabling the bank to offer clients access to consistent liquidity provisioning in foreign exchange across products and currency pairs.

The release of its new pricing and analytics platform for FX swaps, Neo STIR Analytics, has transformed how UBS engages with clients trading in FX swaps.

UBS is a powerhouse in the FX industry with a strong reputation for liquidity provision.

UBS’s extended coverage across multiple time zones and consistent liquidity provision – even during challenging market conditions – has boosted its market share particularly in emerging-market options.

UBS’s financing business might not have the widest scope in the industry these days, nor does the bank top the debt and equity capital markets league tables, but what it does have is expertise that is unusually well tailored to the times. For its skill in responding to its target clients’ needs, and particularly those of financial institutions, it is our pick as western Europe’s best bank for financing.