Team size:  130 people in London 

What significant projects or deals has the legal team worked on in the past year?  Can you provide examples of successful outcomes or major accomplishments?  

The merger of UBS and Credit Suisse has really been our key focus since announcement in March 2023.  Over the past year, UBS Legal has played a critical part across three main aspects: integrating our two organisations, de-risking our combined litigation and legacy portfolios, and enabling the growth of our businesses. 

The mergers of our holding companies, parent banks and Swiss banks, each one a key milestone in our integration journey, involved significant legal complexity with approvals from numerous regulators around the globe, and were successfully executed in record timeframes for two financial services groups of this size and complexity. 

On the de-risking side, we have made significant progress over the past year by successfully resolving a number of high-profile litigation matters with a combined total of several billion dollars in claim values; we have also been a key partner in reducing (ahead of target) the volume of non-core and legacy positions arising out of the merger. 

We have also been a strong partner to our businesses in stabilising our franchise and ensuring continuity of service to our clients in the aftermath of the merger as well as positioning the newly combined UBS Group for growth in our core business areas.  

Can you sum up the team culture or ethos? 

Our purpose is to foster a “One Legal” team who partner to deliver innovative solutions in a dynamic world. 

We carry this out through five pillars: strategic partnership (we act not just as legal advisers but as holistic risk and strategic partners); people (we develop our talent and create a truly inclusive workplace for all our staff); collaboration (we join the dots across our different geographies and businesses in order to really add value for the organisation); simplification (we break down complexity and create efficiency); and technology (we are a key player in the digital transformation of UBS). 

This has been particularly important to us in integrating our own function following the merger with Credit Suisse and driving a single, unified culture. It has also meant that we have been able to position our teams at the heart of everything that is important to the organisation now. 

Apart from legal matters, has the team worked on other company initiatives?  

UBS Legal is very active in shaping and driving DE&I initiatives, not only within the function but also across UBS and the wider legal profession. We have a key focus on gender, ethnicity and overall inclusion but also have strong proponents for other pillars of diversity, and have the largest group of DE&I ambassadors relative to our size in the firm. 

Key initiatives that we have worked on include establishing a law firm panel comprised of firms whose owners/partners are from diverse backgrounds, engaging across initiatives that aim to increase access to law for those from underrepresented backgrounds (e.g. Law Society Diversity Access Scheme, co-led Young Talent Programme aimed at secondary school students), and playing a key role in various UBS-wide programmes (for example the Black Talent Action Plan, voluntary diversity disclosure in different locations, and leading some of our DE&I employee networks).