UBS Opens Offshoring Center In India

UBS plans to spend some $40 million in India on research, analytics, data processing and IT infrastructure.

Reuters said the new center in Hyderabad began operations on June 26 and will employ 1,500 people by the middle of 2007. Clive Standish, the bank's chief financial officer, told a news conference the opening "represents the first phase of UBS's offshoring initiative in India."

Seth Cohen, head of offshoring, said the move is less about cost and more about talent. "Almost everywhere, particularly in markets like Zurich, London and New York, we simply cannot find enough highly qualified people to grow the business at the level we want to grow," he said. According to India's Financial Express, he said the center will have to compete for business with UBS vendors.

UBS already has institutional broking and investment banking divisions in India. It plans to expand those units as demand rises.