April 03, 2023
Swiss authorities are investigating the mega-acquisition of Credit Suisse, the country's second-largest bank, by UBS, its largest. The deal, worth a measly $3.5 billion, would reportedly make UBS the world's top bank wealth manager, with over $4 trillion in assets under management.
Both Credit Suisse and UBS manage assets that are well beyond their institutional size because they are mostly global banks that invest on behalf of wealthy global clients. But the merger won’t turn them into one of the world’s biggest banks by assets – the size of what a bank has on its balance sheet.
If a bank goes belly up, what's vulnerable are not the assets but rather the deposits, which are normally insured by governments up to a certain limit, and the role of managing investments can easily be taken over by another wealth manager. We take a look at the world's top five banks by overall assets compared to the amount of wealth they invest for their clients.
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On Ian Explains, Ian Bremmer takes a look at the growing surge in global conflict and the ripple effects of so much violence, war, and armed struggle throughout the world.
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Think you know what's going on around the world? Here's your chance to prove it.
French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and businessman Jared Kushner, along with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte and otherEuropean leaders, pose for a group photo at the Chancellery in Berlin, Germany, December 15, 2025.
Kay Nietfeld/Pool via REUTERS
The European Union just pulled off something that, a year ago, seemed politically impossible: it froze $247 billion in Russian central bank assets indefinitely, stripping the Kremlin of one of its most reliable pressure points.
Big global stories. Real conversations with world leaders. Our award-winning global affairs show, GZERO World with Ian Bremmer, goes beyond the headlines on the stories that matter most. Here’s a look back at the 10 most quotable moments from this year’s episodes.
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