UBS Group AG completed the historic acquisition of its former rival Credit Suisse, marking a new chapter for the Swiss financial sector as the defunct bank’s legal existence has formally ended.

“Today, Credit Suisse AG has been deregistered in the Commercial Register of the Canton of Zurich,” UBS said in a statement on Friday. It “has ceased to exist as a separate entity.”

The merger is an important next step in the task faced by UBS to see through the massive integration of the smaller bank. It’s “critical to facilitating the migration of clients onto UBS platforms” and it will “unlock the next phase of cost, capital, funding and tax benefits,” Chief Executive Officer Sergio Ermotti said in the statement.

The end of Credit Suisse Group AG as a separate legal entity closes the book on a bank that played a central role in the history and development of Switzerland. The former Schweizerische Kreditanstalt was founded in 1856 to finance the build-out of the mountainous nation’s railway network, subsequently growing into a powerhouse that symbolized the country’s role as a global financial center.

However, Credit Suisse struggled to adapt to a changed banking landscape after the financial crisis and descended ever deeper into crisis over the past few years when it got hit by a series of scandals and legal issues. It ultimately needed a rescue when a crisis of confidence during the last months of 2022 and early 2023 meant that clients pulled out a torrent of money.

In just over a year since the emergency takeover, UBS delivered many of the things it set out to do when agreeing to buy Credit Suisse. It has carved off many of the assets it doesn’t want, revamped its leadership teams, and started putting the two firms’ separate IT systems together.

The transition to a single US intermediate holding company is planned for June 7 while the merger of Credit Suisse (Schweiz) AG and UBS Switzerland AG are expected to happen in the third quarter of 2024, the lender said in the statement on Friday. As of today, UBS “has succeeded to all the rights and obligations” of Credit Suisse including outstanding debt instruments, it said.

Credit Suisse hasn’t traded as single entity since June 13, when the first leg of the merger completion took place. The bank’s shares were de-listed from the Swiss stock exchange and the New York stock exchange respectively. 

This article was provided by Bloomberg News.