Swiss finance minister says UBS unlikely to leave its home base
UBS•Switzerland’s finance minister said UBS is unlikely to leave its Swiss base after lawmakers backed tougher capital rules that the bank estimates could require about $18 billion in additional capital.
1. UBS weighs capital rules
Finance Minister Karin Keller-Sutter said leaving Switzerland would be more expensive than the new rules and legally complicated. UBS Chairman Colm Kelleher had warned the previous week that the bank could reconsider its Swiss base if capital requirements became too harsh.
2. Parliament backs tougher proposal
The upper house voted for a requirement that UBS back its foreign units with 90% Common Equity Tier 1 capital, rejecting UBS’s preferred proposal of 50% CET1 and 50% Additional Tier 1 capital. Keller-Sutter said UBS “went all out,” probably assuming it would get its way in parliament, and said the government had already made compromises with the bank; UBS had rejected that claim earlier in the week.
