UBS Group AG is a Swiss multinational investment bank and financial services company founded and based in Switzerland. Co-headquartered in the cities of Z\u00fcrich and Basel, it maintains a presence in all major financial centers as the largest Swiss banking institution in the world. UBS client services are known for their strict bank\u2013client confidentiality and culture of banking secrecy. The bank's large positions the Americas, EMEA, and Asia Pacific markets make it a systemically important financial institution within the broader economy of Europe. \nUBS was founded in 1862 as the Bank in Winterthur alongside the advent of the Swiss banking industry. During the 1890s, the Swiss Bank Corporation (SBC) was founded, forming a private banking syndicate that expanded aided by Switzerland's international neutrality. In 1912, the Bank of Winterthur merged with Toggenburger Bank in to form the Union Bank of Switzerland (UBS) and grew rapidly after the Banking Law of 1934 codified Swiss banking secrecy. Following decades of market competition between the SBC and UBS, the two merged in 1998 to create a single company known solely as \
UBS