It's no secret that UBS chairman Axel Weber sees Zurich as a potential beneficiary of banking business leaving the City of London. He's less optimistic that a host of European cities like Frankfurt will see a windfall.

Frankfurt, Luxembourg, Paris – several European cities have launched public bids to attract banking services in the wake of June's landmark vote by Britain to leave the European Union.

Axel Weber, a German-born academic and central banker who has been chairman of UBS since 2012, puts little stock into those efforts.

«Too Simple»

«It's too simple of an equation to think that without doing very much, Frankfurt, Madrid and others will profit from London's exit,» Weber told bankers in Frankfurt at an industry conference hosted by German daily «Handelsblatt».

He noted that no European financial center besides London currently cracks the top-ten globally, but Zurich – which is outside the EU – ranked sixth.

New York, Mumbai, Zurich

«I believe the greater danger is that New York, Mumbai, Dubai or Zurich will benefit if global trade is organized by global financial firms in the most important centers and pass their book from one center to the next throughout the day, meaning Europe plays a far smaller role.»

Banks outside the EU – including UBS and Credit Suisse, Switzerland's No. 1 and 2 – need so-called passporting for many activities, he said. However, he signaled that he believes institutional business would largely remain in London.

«You don't need a passport for a lot of institutional business – you can handle it in every country directly with the people who are responsible for the center.»

Fitness-Apps

Turning to digitization, Weber said banks need to learn a lesson from consumer technology such as wearable health and fitness apps, where users can track and share their gains with friends, to understand their younger clients.

«If you have an investment portfolio and the client is willing to share his investment performance with his friends, it's the same principle as comparing how quickly you can run a footrace,» Weber said.

Banks must adopt this style of technology and make it their own, Weber said.

«We have to build a financial environment that the client recognizes and appreciates from other areas of his life. If we can do that, we might be able to keep him. If he doesn't react, we'll lose him.»