- After the Credit Suisse crash, the Federal Council is proposing stricter capital requirements for UBS.
- UBS sharply criticizes these regulations. She indirectly threatens to move to the USA.
- Banking professor Peter V. Kunz believes the threats are ridiculous. He expects a compromise from Parliament.
After the Credit Suisse crash, Finance Minister Karin Keller-Sutter spoke about the new capital requirements for systemically important banks. They concern UBS. It accommodated the wishes of the big bank in some respects, but remained tough with regard to the foreign subsidiaries.
In a statement, UBS strongly criticized the proposed overall package. It is “extreme, not coordinated internationally and ignores the concerns of the majority of participants in the government consultations”.
Before there was always Rumors againthat the bank is moving away plans to go to the USA. On Wednesday, UBS also left a request unanswered as to whether it was now committed to Switzerland.
Banking expert Peter V. Kunz classifies. He is managing director at the Institute for Business Law at the University of Bern.
The Federal Council proposal
“The Federal Council has made a typically Swiss compromise. He made considerable concessions to UBS in certain areas and remains tough on the capital requirements for foreign banks because he knows full well that Parliament ultimately decides. This means the Federal Council can say it wants things to be tightened up and hand over responsibility. That was politically clever.”
This is how it continues
“Parliament will accommodate UBS in the summer and offer a compromise that is acceptable to the bank. UBS knows this too. That’s why I’m surprised she’s so aggressive. This propaganda battle against the Federal Council is incomprehensible. I’m a thoroughly middle-class and bank-friendly professor, but I don’t like these unspeakable threats of leaving.”
Moving to the USA
“UBS will definitely not move to the USA. These threats are ridiculous. It would lose super-rich regular customers from Asia and South America who want a Swiss bank. Swiss banking is very important to these customers and they do not want to be exposed to the risk of data access by the US government. UBS enjoys a bank-friendly policy in Switzerland. She wouldn’t have that in the USA with Donald Trump or with a Democratic president.”
Should the Federal Council take tougher action against big banks like UBS?
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Fabian Pöschl (fpo) has been working for 20 minutes since 2020. He is responsible for business news in the News, Economy & Video Reports department.
