Union Bank of Switzerland: 1945-1998

Shortly after the end of  UBS completed the acquisition of Eidgenössische Bank, a large Zurich-based bank that became insolvent. As a result of the merger, UBS exceeded 1 billion CHF of assets for the first time and completed the transition of its operations to Zurich. Although UBS opened an office in New York in 1946, the bank remained primarily focused on its domestic business. Prior to the end of , the Swiss banking landscape was dominated by  and  UBS was among the next group of large banks that included (Swiss Volksbank or Swiss Popular Bank) and . Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, the Union Bank of Switzerland, which was at best the third largest bank in Switzerland would catch up to its larger peers and by the 1970s surpass them in terms of sizeUBS opened branches and acquired a series of banks in Switzerland growing from 31 offices in 1950 to 81 offices by the beginning of the 1960s. Throughout the 1950s, UBS was the most acquisitive bank in Switzerland, acquiring Banque Palézieux & Cie. Volksbank InterlakenWeck, Aebi & Cie Banque Tissières fils & Cie. (1956), Banque de Sion  Banque de Brigue the Crédit GruyérienCrédit SierroisBank Cantrade AG (1960) and Volksbank in VispIn addition to these bank acquisitions, UBS also acquired an 80% stake in Argor SA, a Swiss precious metal refinery founded in 1951, through whom they started to issue UBS branded gold bars. In 1973, the bank increased the stake to full 100% ownership only to withdraw by 1999 with ownership of the refinery changing to Hereaus & Management. Nevertheless, UBS continues to issue gold bars via Argor-Heraeus which is famous for the uniqueholographic technology it uses to provide enhanced protection against bank gold bar counterfeiting