Confederation demands more capital UBS is apparently considering leaving Switzerland
According to a media report, UBS is seriously considering leaving Switzerland. The Swiss government wants to see more equity after the CS takeover - the big bank considers this to be excessive.
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- According to a Bloomberg report, UBS is considering leaving Switzerland.
- The reason for this is the threat of demands from the Swiss government to provide an additional 25 billion francs in equity capital.
- According to UBS, it will then no longer be able to compete.
This article was last comprehensively updated at 20:12.
According to a report by the news agency "Bloomberg", UBS is considering moving its headquarters out of Switzerland and abroad. Discussions in management bodies have triggered calls for a significantly larger capital requirement. UBS itself is countering this with reference to earlier statements by Group CEO Sergio Ermotti.
The big bank would then consider a move abroad if politicians and the authorities stick to their demands, which would result in an increase in capital of around 25 billion dollars, wrote "Bloomberg" on Thursday, citing people familiar with the talks.
Demands for a thick capital cushion
Based on internal calculations, which in the worst-case scenario assume an increase in the core capital ratio (CET1 ratio) from the current 14 percent to around 20 percent, the management is of the opinion that the bank would no longer be able to operate competitively from Switzerland compared to large foreign banks, the report continued.
With regard to UBS, Swiss politicians and supervisory authorities are considering, among other things, the spin-off of foreign subsidiaries with full capital backing. In this way, the authorities want to prevent UBS from collapsing, as was the case with Credit Suisse.
UBS considers the plans of politicians and authorities to be so detrimental to its business that it sees no other option in such a case than to move its headquarters abroad, people told Bloomberg. It would be economically impossible to operate with such a high capital ratio. In addition, the pressure from shareholders on the bank is also likely to increase in the event of significantly higher capital requirements.
UBS refers to Ermotti statements
In response to the reporting, UBS itself referred on Thursday evening to statements made by CEO Sergio Ermotti in an interview with "Bloomberg TV" at the World Economic Forum WEF in January. "Swissness" is an important element for the bank's success, said Ermotti in Davos.
In addition, business in Switzerland is an important pillar of the bank's strategy. "We want to continue to be successful from Switzerland," explained Ermotti in Davos. He was also asked at the time whether stricter capital requirements could lead to the bank moving out of Switzerland.
