Comerica Inc. on Tuesday said that it had extended until 2006 an agreement with UBS PaineWebber Inc. to provide private banking services for the New York companys clients in nine states.
Comerica, based in Detroit, has provided trust and private banking services to UBS PaineWebber customers since 1995. It initially provided services only to UBS PaineWebber customers in Michigan and Florida, but later extended the agreement to include Arizona, Colorado, Minnesota, Illinois, New York, Tennessee, and Ohio.
This alliance has significantly expanded Comericas customer base beyond its primary markets of Michigan, California, Texas, and Florida, said David B. Stephens, the executive vice president of private banking at Comerica.
UBS PaineWebber is a unit of UBS Warburg. It was formed when New Yorks PaineWebber was acquired by Union Bank of Switzerland last year. Comericas original agreement was with PaineWebber. UBS PaineWebber now provides wealth management services to approximately 2 million clients, and has 392 offices nationwide.
We are pleased that Comerica will continue to complement our customized trust capabilities for our core affluent investors, said Bruce Bursey, the director of UBS PaineWebbers investment consulting services group.
The partnership has been a great referral source for Comerica, said Fred Cummings, an analyst with McDonald Investments in Cleveland. They can expand their business line without incurring overhead to open offices, Mr. Cummings said.
Comerica is currently in a transition period; last month, it announced that Eugene Miller would step down as its president and chief executive officer at yearend. Ralph W. Babb Jr., the chief financial officer, has been appointed to succeed Mr. Miller.
