UBS boss threatens Swiss exit in protest over regulatory crackdown
UBS boss threatens Swiss exit in protest over regulatory crackdown
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Tom SaundersWed, October 28, 2026 at 1:07 PM UTC
The boss of UBS has sent his strongest signal yet that the bank could leave Switzerland in protest against a regulatory crackdown.
Sergio Ermotti, the chief executive of UBS, said the lender was assessing the “long-term consequences” of proposed new capital rules aimed at preventing another banking crisis.
In particular, he warned that a requirement to increase the amount of capital held by banks would hinder the 164-year-old lender’s ability to compete globally.
Speaking after UBS’s latest results, he said: “We are assessing the long-term consequences for our ability to compete out of Switzerland.
“We are once more at a critical juncture where the course for the coming decades will be set for the Swiss financial centre.”
Mr Ermotti added: “Being a bank that has a DNA of Swissness, that is rooted in Switzerland, is a big advantage, but it is not the reason why our clients are banking with us.”
He said he was very concerned by reforms to the country’s “too big to fail” rules, which were inspired by the collapse of Credit Suisse three years ago.
Sergio Ermotti said UBS is at a ‘critical juncture’ as the lender assesses the proposed requirement to increase the amount of capital held by banks - EPA/Shutterstock/Alessandro Della Valle
Weakened by a string of scandals, Credit Suisse was bailed out by UBS in 2023 to avert a European banking crisis.
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That deal dramatically increased UBS’s balance sheet, which is now nearly double the size of the entire Swiss economy.
Under reforms currently being debated by a Swiss parliamentary committee, banks will have to hold an extra $16bn (£12bn) in funding to strengthen their cash buffers during a downturn.
Mr Ermotti said the proposed regulation, which is heading for a final parliamentary debate in December, would penalise UBS’s “global reach”.
He also said that the effect on UBS’s shareholders was not being considered, given they act as “the first line of defence in a period of stress” and that their “critical financial support during the acquisition helped protect Switzerland’s reputation and financial stability”.
The UBS chief issued the warning after two of its major investors, European activist Cevian and US-based Artisan Partners, urged it to move abroad.
Artisan Partners said earlier this month that Switzerland was no longer an attractive or desirable location for the banking giant.
This has already led to other countries, including the UK, pitching themselves as a potential new home for UBS.
It emerged earlier this month that Rachel Reeves, the former chancellor, had held talks with the bank’s chairman about possibly moving its headquarters and listing to the UK if it were to redomicile.
Source: “AOL Money”
