One of Switzerland's big banks, created in 1998 from the merger of Union Bank of Switzerland (also UBS) and Swiss Bank Corporation (SBC).It is now a global financial services company with headquarters in both Basel and Zurich.It provides investment banking as well as asset and wealth management services and operates in more than 50 countries. It is also considered the world's second largest manager of private wealth assets.

However in October 2012 it announced a planned %16 cut to its current workforce of 64,000 employees worldwide.This follows the loss of 39bn Swiss Francs during the global financial crisis which was the largest of any European banck at the time, and a further 2bn in 2011 due to the alleged illegal trading activities of a former employee, Kweku Adoboli, who as of October 2012 is still on trial.The job-cuts arrive amid UBS plans to reduce focus on its riskier trading business.