Huw Jenkins gives wide-ranging interview to Bloomberg TV
http://compass.swissbank.com/compass...cd9/HJBbrg.jpg In a wide-ranging interview with Bloomberg TV this week, Huw Jenkins gave his personal views on the global economic climate and UBS's future areas of focus.
As special guest on the Open Exchange program, Jenkins was questioned about a number of issues including the overall outlook for investment banks, the Investment Bank's growth strategy and his reaction to the newly announced intention to combine regulatory powers between the NASD and NYSE.
Jenkins told interviewer Brian Sullivan that he believed regulatory market consolidation was a positive step.
"I think that anything that results in more of a level playing field and consolidation and ease of us dealing with a regulatory environment is a plus," he said. "We file 14,000 regulatory reports each year, if we are in a position where we can consolidate those into fewer providers, that's a plus for us. We're very pleased with the idea that exchanges are looking to become more efficient, deliver more to their customers and use these opportunities to look at these synergies of going cross border."
Asked about his opinion on global equity markets, Jenkins said he was "a little bit surprised on by the strength of the rally coming out of the summer".
"The big issue is whether or not we're going to be dealing with something more than a soft landing in terms of the US," he told Bloomberg. "I think we're going to have a soft-landing. I think that the world's central banks are trying to do a complicated job on managing, on the one hand, the risks of slowing down the economy too quickly and two, what is clearly very high levels of risk-taking generally on financial markets."
Jenkins went on to predict a relatively high level of M&A activity into next year, but warned financial institutions would have to remain realistic about the potential of liquidity levels to fall.
"There's a significant opportunity for us and the rest of the industry to assume that these conditions can prevail forever," he cautioned. "But we need to continue to watch the overall dynamics of the market to make sure we don't get over extended."
Jenkins believed one of the upcoming focuses for UBS would be dealing more effectively with clients needs, explaining there was a "need to work much more efficiently across the product area boundaries that have existed in investment banks".
Touching on key markets for UBS, Jenkins spoke about the firm's acquisition of Brazil's Banco Pactual which would create a "platform to expand throughout Latin America".
Upbeat about 2007, Jenkins explained the firm was on track for a positive year and was confident of strong outlook for the longer-term.
"I think from our point of view the industry is in great shape," he said. "When we looked at our business 18 months ago when I took over the one thing that we felt very strongly was that the main trends that are driving our industry - securitization and globalization - are going to continue to play out in the second half of this decade."
http://compass.swissbank.com/compass...cd9/HJBbrg.jpg In a wide-ranging interview with Bloomberg TV this week, Huw Jenkins gave his personal views on the global economic climate and UBS's future areas of focus.
As special guest on the Open Exchange program, Jenkins was questioned about a number of issues including the overall outlook for investment banks, the Investment Bank's growth strategy and his reaction to the newly announced intention to combine regulatory powers between the NASD and NYSE.
Jenkins told interviewer Brian Sullivan that he believed regulatory market consolidation was a positive step.
"I think that anything that results in more of a level playing field and consolidation and ease of us dealing with a regulatory environment is a plus," he said. "We file 14,000 regulatory reports each year, if we are in a position where we can consolidate those into fewer providers, that's a plus for us. We're very pleased with the idea that exchanges are looking to become more efficient, deliver more to their customers and use these opportunities to look at these synergies of going cross border."
Asked about his opinion on global equity markets, Jenkins said he was "a little bit surprised on by the strength of the rally coming out of the summer".
"The big issue is whether or not we're going to be dealing with something more than a soft landing in terms of the US," he told Bloomberg. "I think we're going to have a soft-landing. I think that the world's central banks are trying to do a complicated job on managing, on the one hand, the risks of slowing down the economy too quickly and two, what is clearly very high levels of risk-taking generally on financial markets."
Jenkins went on to predict a relatively high level of M&A activity into next year, but warned financial institutions would have to remain realistic about the potential of liquidity levels to fall.
"There's a significant opportunity for us and the rest of the industry to assume that these conditions can prevail forever," he cautioned. "But we need to continue to watch the overall dynamics of the market to make sure we don't get over extended."
Jenkins believed one of the upcoming focuses for UBS would be dealing more effectively with clients needs, explaining there was a "need to work much more efficiently across the product area boundaries that have existed in investment banks".
Touching on key markets for UBS, Jenkins spoke about the firm's acquisition of Brazil's Banco Pactual which would create a "platform to expand throughout Latin America".
Upbeat about 2007, Jenkins explained the firm was on track for a positive year and was confident of strong outlook for the longer-term.
"I think from our point of view the industry is in great shape," he said. "When we looked at our business 18 months ago when I took over the one thing that we felt very strongly was that the main trends that are driving our industry - securitization and globalization - are going to continue to play out in the second half of this decade."