BERLIN: UBS said on Monday that it has completed its takeover of embattled rival Credit Suisse, nearly three months after the Swiss government hastily arranged a rescue deal to combine the country’s two largest banks in a bid to safeguard Switzerland’s reputation as a global financial centre and choke off market turmoil.

A statement from the bank said “UBS has completed the acquisition of Credit Suisse today, crossing an important milestone.”

UBS had said last week that it expected to complete the acquisition worth 3 billion Swiss francs ($3.3 billion) as early as Monday.

It’s a pivotal moment for the two Zurich-based rivals, whose combination has raised concerns about thousands of expected job losses, drawn rebukes and lawsuits over the terms of the deal, and stirred fears about the impact of creating a Swiss megabank that would be too big to fail.