The banking sector is witnessing a unique merger of two global Swiss banks that will become the world’s largest wealth management bank with 5 trillion dollars client assets under management. The merger has sparked multiple debates in political, financial, and economical subfields with the subject of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) at the front. Extant literature has deemed post-merger integration as well as the role of culture as crucial influencing success factors of mergers. With that stated, the objective will be to use this material to derive relevant key points for the upcoming merger.

Due to the often-required secrecy and confidentiality, research on M&A and post-merger integration in the banking sector is limited. Therefore, the author of this thesis combines extant research with self-conducted interviews to capture the present understanding of the thesis topic. Additionally, the interviews help in uncovering aspects that might not have been captured by extant literature. With the knowledge of the research and the interviews, recommendations for the upcoming merger can be constituted.

The interviews revealed that a faster integration was viewed more positively because it reduced uncertainty and thus helped in retaining client assets and employees. Furthermore, within an integration mostly employees of the target bank have to adapt to new processes and policies which requires knowledge transfer between the merging banks. In this regard, the interviewees mentioned that the dialogue between the merging teams is important for the acculturation and learning process. The dialogue between the merging teams is also important in bridging the two cultures. The cultural aspect has played a role in both previous mergers and will have to be actively managed in the upcoming merger to ensure a united combined entity. Additionally, the interviewees who remembered their supervisors as communicative and supportive during the process overall expressed a more positive integration experience. The interview insights recall some of the success factors and integration challenges found in the extant literature. The mentioned aspects of the interviewees and the summarized findings by the extant research undoubtedly have to be managed properly to ensure a successful merger integration.