The UBS Group has made an adjustment to the book profit from the acquisition of its former rival Credit Suisse, resulting in a correction to the reported net income for the last year. The Swiss bank confirmed that Sergio Ermotti will remain as Chief Executive Officer to oversee the integration of Credit Suisse and attempted to address concerns regarding its size and the potential need for stricter regulation.

UBS stated that regulations and capital requirements were not the cause of Credit Suisse's downfall, while it adjusted a book profit from the acquisition of its former competitor downward, resulting in a restatement of the net income for the last year.

In April of last year, Ermotti returned to UBS to lead the integration of Credit Suisse, after having already served as CEO from 2011 to 2020. His appointment came at a critical time for UBS as it began to restructure Credit Suisse and reassure investors, clients, and regulatory authorities.

The transaction initiated by the Swiss authorities a year ago following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and completed in June was the first between two globally systemically important financial institutions.

"Sergio [Ermotti] has committed to stay at least until the completion of the integration process, if not longer," UBS said in its annual report released on Thursday. UBS plans to largely complete the integration by the end of 2026.

In the report, UBS announced that Sergio Ermotti's total compensation last year was 14.4 million Swiss Francs (15.9 million US dollars), an increase of 14% compared to what his predecessor Ralph Hamers received in 2022.

The bank also dismissed concerns about its size relative to the Swiss economy and potential impacts on competition, saying it has learned lessons from analyzing the problems at Credit Suisse.

"First, there is no regulatory solution for a broken business model. That is the task of the executives and managers, who also must be held to account by committed shareholders. And second, trust cannot be regulated," said UBS Chairman Colm Kelleher and CEO Ermotti in a letter attached to the report.

UBS announced that its net result for 2023 has been revised down to 27.8 billion US dollars from a previously reported 29.0 billion US dollars. The bank stated that it refined its estimates of the fair value at acquisition time, which led to an adjustment of 1.2 billion US dollars and reduced the so-called negative goodwill from the transaction to 27.7 billion US dollars. Its core capital ratio (Common Equity Tier 1 Ratio) at year-end decreased to 14.4% from a previously reported 14.5%.