UBS Lugano and Locarno: 100 years in full swing

It was 1920, the year in which two branches of what would become the banking giant UBS were opened in Lugano and Locarno. Then as today, it was a delicate historical period: the Great War had recently ended, the memory of the Ticino banking crisis of 1914 was still fresh, the Spanish influenza was killing millions of lives. Then as now, the population and the economy urgently needed to look to the future with optimism. ‘This is why we have decided to celebrate this century of history in the presence’ - explained today Luca Pedrotti, head of the Ticino region of UBS, opening the speeches. Celebrations were held in Bellinzona in the presence of CEO Sergio Ermotti.

UBS Lugano and Locarno: 100 years in full swing

Back in 1920, the American Swiss Bank was present in Ticino, which, experiencing a period of decline, sought to merge with the Union of Swiss Banks in Zurich. From there began the history of UBS in Lugano and Locarno, intertwined with that of the territory and the economy. Today UBS has 17 branches in Ticino with 740 employees, has a direct link with one in three households, 8,000 entrepreneurs, one in two are professionals and trains half of the banking apprentices. There is obviously the bank’s economic link with the territory, especially in Lugano as the third financial center, with important repercussions in terms of taxation, employment and local skills. Despite the profound transformations of the sector in the last ten years, explained the State Councilor Christian Vitta, today banks employ about 5. 000 employees (there were 7,500 in 2006) and generate tax revenues of 34.5 million francs (compared to 86.6 million before the financial crisis). But there is also the cultural one, as pointed out by the two mayors Marco Borradori and Alain Scherrer, with partnerships such as the one with LAC Edu, the Locarno Film Festival, the Galà dei Castelli, Sapori Ticino.

A hundred years ago it was the dawn of the Roaring Twenty Years, and now? ‘In recent months, banks have really shown that they are alongside the real economy and that they are the transmission wheel between aid from Bern and the business fabric - commented Sergio Ermotti, in his penultimate public appearance as CEO of the big bank - . UBS is solid but cannot rest on its laurels and must already think about how to deal with the challenges after COVID-19. His luck is that he starts with the best conditions to overcome the next hundred years. It is a pride to know that 86% of collaborators are happy to work for the bank, a big thank you to them and to all the customers who have followed us over the years’.

In fact, there are several structural trends to face: for example international competition, sustainable finance. Digitization, which UBS has been committed to for some time with annual investments of CHF 3.6 billion. And in Ticino, among other things, with the Manno Research Center on artificial intelligence, which by the end of 2021 should reach 107 jobs. ‘In the Locarno office we have just invested 2.5 million for renovation, in Lugano we expect 10. The bank of the future will have digital skills in the left hand and in the right hand those of personal relationships with the customer. Ticino is a region that continues to bring important results, and we hope that it will continue to be like this in the future’, concluded Pedrotti.