Lionel Laurent, Columnist

UBS Can Afford to Delay Radical Surgery

CEO is right to resist the temptation of a more drastic overhaul.

January 22, 2018 at 10:01 AM UTC

Lionel Laurent is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist writing about the future of money and the future of Europe. Previously, he was a reporter for Reuters and Forbes.

UBS's Ermotti Says Volatility Set to Become More Normal in 2018 — Photographer: Christopher Goodney/Bloomberg

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UBS Group AG, which kicked off Europe's bank earnings season on Monday, couldn't disguise its miserable fourth quarter.

Earnings from most divisions fell short of analyst estimates: margins in wealth-management stagnated and investment-banking revenue was its lowest in at least a year. The lack of market volatility and negative interest rates in Switzerland and Europe are hurting.