What do you guys think will happen with UBS?

I think UBS is gonna take a big hit...spin off...not sure...what divisions do you think?

IMO, if they were to spin off a division it would be their IBD. The bread and butter of the company is their commercial bank in Switzerland and their Wealth Management Division. I believe they have the largest number of financial advisors in the world. This business also tends to stand up better in a recession.

Bloomberg reported today that they may fire 8,000 employees across all divisions.

I've seen articles floating around that they may spin off wealth management, but I find that hard to believe. Also they are top 6 in M&A activity so far this year so it seems odd to spin off IBD.

UBS = U've Been Split.

how long before this happens?

yea, what are people hearing will happen now?

I think UBS will eventually be sold to HSBC, whether it'd be their private wealth management or IBD.

not going to happen, at least based on the impression I'm getting from the internal memos.

internal memos can say whatever they want... they still split into 3 separate divisions, right? didn't they say the weren't going to do that too? mgmt will do whatever the hell they want w/o having to explain to anyone

Its always been 3 separate divisions.

any new thoughts on this after today's developments?

any new thoughts on this after today's developments?

They've been partly nationalized, but they won't be the last bank to do so. At the very least they can start returning to business as usual. They turned a profit this quarter, which in and of itself is a feat given the conditions. IMO they're not going anywhere. Maybe they spin out IBD down the road, but right now who's going to take that from them unless it's at firesale prices akin to Wachovia/Lehman/Bear?

I will say this though, I think they would've been wiser taking money from sovereign wealth funds like CS did. The Swiss regulators and that new 9% stake may force them to take some crazy capital restrictions, which would obviously hurt their ability to take advantage of their big balance sheet (which some would say is their strongest asset).