page_title: Union Bank of Switzerland
section_title: Origins of the Union Bank of Switzerland
hierarchical_section_title: Union Bank of Switzerland / History / Origins of the Union Bank of Switzerland
caption_attribution_description: English: Announcement of the merger of the Bank in Winterthur with the Toggenburger Bank to form the Union Bank of Switzerland
context_page_description: Union Bank of Switzerland was a Swiss investment bank and financial services company located in Switzerland. The bank, which at the time was the second largest bank in Switzerland, merged with Swiss Bank Corporation in 1998, to become UBS to form what was then the largest bank in Europe and the second largest bank in the World.
  UBS was formed in 1912 through the merger of the Bank in Winterthur and Toggenburger Bank, both founded in the early 1860s. UBS then continued to grow through acquisitions, including Aargauische Kreditanstalt in 1919, Eidgenössische Bank in 1945, Interhandel Basel in 1967, Phillips & Drew in 1986, and Schröder, Münchmeyer, Hengst & Co. in 1997 among others.
  The historical UBS logo comprises the initials "UBS" horizontally, referring to the "Union Bank of Switzerland", "Union de Banques Suisses" or "Unione di Banche Svizzere", crossed by vertical "SBG", referring to the name of the bank in German "Schweizerische Bankgesellschaft". "UBS" ceased to be considered a representational abbreviation for the Union Bank of Switzerland after the bank's 1998 merger with Swiss Bank Corporation and is today considered a standalone brand.
context_section_description: In 1862, The Bank in Winterthur was founded in Winterthur, Switzerland, with an initial share capital of CHF5 million.  The Bank in Winterthur operated primarily as a commercial bank, providing financing for a range of companies and projects. The bank would be involved in funding the Swiss Locomotive and Machine Works, the hotel Baur au Lac in Zurich and many other companies.   The bank capitalized on its location at an important Swiss railroad junction and its large warehousing facilities allowed the bank to take advantage of the dramatic rise in cotton prices caused by the American Civil War. The Bank in Winterthur saw its share capital double by the end of the war.
  Meanwhile, in 1863, the Toggenburger Bank was founded in Lichtensteig, Switzerland with an initial share capital of CHF1.5 million.   The Toggenburger Bank was a savings and mortgage bank for individual customers with a branch office network in Eastern Switzerland.  In 1882, Toggenburger Bank opened a branch in St. Gallen in eastern Switzerland and began to shift its operations there through the end of the 19th century.
  The Union Bank of Switzerland was formed in 1912 when the Bank in Winterthur merged with the Toggenburger Bank. The combined bank had total assets of CHF202 million and a total shareholders' equity of CHF46 million.  This combination was part of a larger trend toward concentration in the banking sector in Switzerland at the time. Through the next few years, the bank would begin to shift its operations to Zurich from its historical headquarters in the cities of Winterthur and St. Gallen, Switzerland. In 1917, UBS completed construction of a new headquarters in Zurich on Bahnhofstrasse, considered to be the Wall Street of Switzerland.
  The new bank used different names in its three core languages: German, French and English. In German, the bank was Schweizerische Bankgesellschaft and was known by the initials SBG. The original English name for the combined bank was the Swiss Banking Association, but it was later changed to Union Bank of Switzerland in 1921 to mirror the French form of the name: Union de Banques Suisses. The bank's logo, introduced in 1966, would later reflect both the German SBG and the English and French name UBS.
  UBS acquired a number of banks in its first decade as a combined bank and expanded its branch network, establishing representation throughout Switzerland by 1923.  UBS acquired a controlling interest in Aargauische Creditanstalt in 1913 and Banque Ch. Masson & Cie. in 1916. Although the bank suffered during World War I and the postwar economic crises in Europe, UBS continued to make acquisitions after the conclusion of World War I.  The bank purchased the remaining stake in Aargauische Creditanstalt in 1919 that it had not acquired in 1913. Also in 1919, the bank acquired Commandit-AG Weibel & Cie. in Fleurier and William Cuénod & Cie. In 1920, UBS acquired Banca Svizzera-Americana with branches in Locarno and Lugano; Unionbank Geneva and Banque Henry Rieckel & Cie., based in La Chaux-de-Fonds. Three years later, in 1923, UBS acquired the Schweizerische Vereinsbank in Bern establishing representation in the last of the major cities in Switzerland.
  Through the Great Depression, UBS pared its assets considerably shrinking from CHF993 million in 1929 to CHF441 million at the end of 1935. The bank saw its shareholders' capital decline from CHF100 million in 1929 to CHF80 million in 1933 and then further to CHF40 million by 1936.  However, the bank continued to acquire smaller, weaker competitors, purchasing Banca Unione di Credito in Lugano and Chiasso in 1935 followed by Berner Handelsbank in Bern in 1938. In 1937, UBS established Intrag AG, an asset management business responsible for investment trusts (i.e., mutual funds) and set up the "America-Canada Trust Fund AMCA". Over the years, Intrag would set up a series of other funds, including the "Mutual Fund for Swiss Stocks FONSA" and the "South Africa Trust Fund SAFIT".
  The Bank in Winterthur and the Toggenburger Bank merge to form the Schweizerische Bankgesellschaft.
caption: Announcement of the 1912 merger between Bank in Winterthur and Toggenburger Bank to form Schweizerische Bankgesellschaft (Union Bank of Switzerland).
exif: {}