UBS vows to fight for business model as Swiss capital debate heats up

By Ariane Luthi

BASEL, Switzerland, April 15 (Reuters) – UBS Chairman Colm Kelleher warned on Wednesday that proposed Swiss capital requirements threatened its business model and would do little to improve financial stability, while raising questions over the bank’s future in Switzerland.

The government is seeking to introduce new banking rules in the wake of the 2023 collapse of Credit Suisse, which UBS – Switzerland’s only remaining global bank – bought in a state-engineered emergency takeover.

Kelleher told UBS’s annual general meeting in Basel, Switzerland that the proposals, which the bank says could make it carry $22 billion in extra capital, had triggered growing pressure from markets and shareholders.

“We are as much an integral part of Switzerland as our Swiss heritage is part of us … We want to remain headquartered in Switzerland,” he said.

However, he ruled out shrinking the bank in size and underlined the bank’s growth ambitions in Asia and the United States.

“It is our duty to evaluate appropriate measures to address, if confirmed, the negative effects of these extreme proposals,” Kelleher said, adding that “key business decisions may soon become unavoidable.”

SHAPING OF NEW REGULATIONS ENTERING DECISIVE PHASE, CEO SAYS

Switzerland’s governing Federal Council is due to clarify its capital proposals later this month.

CEO Sergio Ermotti said the country was now entering the most decisive phase in the reshaping of its future regulatory framework and vowed to vigorously defend UBS’s position.

“We will fight until the last minute,” Ermotti said.

Ethos Foundation, a proxy advisor speaking in Basel on behalf of several pension funds and other investors, however, supported the stricter capital requirements proposed by the government.

Proxy advisors assist institutional investors, including with voting recommendations.

“We must not allow a system where executives are rewarded while the risk is borne by the financial system and taxpayers,” Ethos Foundation CEO Vincent Kaufmann said.

UBS FACES CRITICISM OVER SUSTAINABILITY RECORD

Kelleher reiterated that the extent of UBS’s share buybacks depended on Switzerland’s future regulatory regime. And he thanked Ermotti for a successful integration of Credit Suisse, which is now in its last mile.

“Sergio will see the integration through to completion and then focus on driving growth and sustainably higher returns,” Kelleher said. “He will also lead UBS through this period of regulatory uncertainty.”

Reuters reported this week that Ermotti could stay at the helm of the bank well into the second half of 2027 as an obvious internal successor has yet to emerge.

Several speakers, meanwhile, criticised UBS’s sustainability performance as a small group of around a dozen protesters rallied outside the Basel conference hall against financing linked to fossil fuels. 

Kelleher said that stakeholders rightly expect UBS to play an active role in supporting the transition to a low-carbon economy and that the bank was taking this responsibility seriously.

But Ethos Foundation’s Kaufmann said sustainable investments account for only a small fraction of the bank’s total assets under management and called on UBS to publish the extent of the bank’s lending to renewable and fossil industries.

Kelleher was re-elected UBS chairman with 88.16% of the votes on Wednesday. Former UBS compliance chief Markus Ronner joined the board as new vice-chairman, while Luca Maestri and Augustin Carstens were confirmed as new board members. 

(Reporting by Ariane Luthi; Editing by Miranda Murray, Kim Coghill and Joe Bavier)