Category Archives: UBS

Global wealth fall cost 3.5m people ‘dollar millionaire’ status last year

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UBS says assets dipped for first time since financial crisis as high inflation and struggling currencies took toll

More than 3.5 million people lost their “dollar millionaire” status last year during the first fall in global wealth since the 2008 financial crisis.

The number of adults with assets of more than $1m (£790,000) fell from 62.9 million at the end of 2021 to 59.4 million at the end of 2022, according to the UBS annual wealth report, published on Tuesday. The Swiss bank said global wealth was depressed by high inflation and the collapse of many currencies against the dollar.

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UBS to make $35bn in Credit Suisse takeover – but lose $17bn in rushed deal

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UBS says it will absorb costs related to litigation, regulatory matters and liability adjustments in emergency rescue

UBS is in line to make an almost $35bn (£28bn) gain after its emergency takeover of Credit Suisse – but has said it will take a $17bn hit from costs related to the rushed rescue deal.

The Swiss lender has said it will make gains of $34.8bn after taking on Credit Suisse, based on an initial assessment of data until the end of last year, according to a regulatory filing. The accounting gain will be one of the biggest ever reported by a bank in a single quarter.

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Credit Suisse investors suing Swiss regulator after £4bn bond wipeout

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Finma accused of acting unlawfully and undermining confidence in Switzerland as a financial centre

A group of Credit Suisse investors who lost bonds worth more than CHF 4.5bn (£4bn) are suing Switzerland’s financial regulator over a decision to wipe out risky bank debt after an emergency merger with UBS last month.

The investors filed their claim at a court in St Gallen, in the north-east of Switzerland, weeks after Swiss authorities orchestrated the takeover of Credit Suisse by its larger rival UBS, to try to stem a crisis of confidence in the global banking sector.

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Switzerland’s attorney general to investigate Credit Suisse takeover

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Inquiry to focus on whether emergency state-backed UBS takeover breached criminal law

Switzerland’s federal prosecutor has launched an investigation into whether last month’s state-backed takeover of the stricken bank Credit Suisse by its bigger rival UBS broke Swiss criminal law.

The office of the attorney general said it was looking into potential breaches by government officials, regulators and executives at the two banks who thrashed out an emergency merger over a frantic weekend in mid-March to prevent a wider financial meltdown.

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Head of Credit Suisse talks of his profound sadness over UBS takeover

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Ulrich Körner acknowledges an ‘emotional and challenging week’ after deal was forced through by Swiss authorities

The chief executive of stricken Credit Suisse has said that he shares its employees’ “profound sadness and disappointment” after its emergency takeover by rival UBS earlier this week.

UBS took over Credit Suisse on Sunday in a £2.65bn deal forced through by Swiss authorities amid fears that a failure to protect depositors would kickstart a global banking crisis.

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UK and US shares climb as banks and ministers aim to calm Credit Suisse fears

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FTSE 100 rises and European banking shares are up after early jitters over what UBS takeover deal means for bondholders

Stocks climbed on Monday in London and New York after central bankers and politicians sought to soothe jitters triggered by the emergency rescue of Credit Suisse during the weekend.

Central banks in the UK and eurozone issued statements aimed at reassuring investors that – unlike the controversial approach taken by the Swiss authorities in the Credit Suisse deal – their jurisdictions would follow a hierarchy in which equity holders would lose out before bond holders.

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UBS agrees takeover of stricken Credit Suisse for $3.25bn

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Swiss government forces through takeover at well below market value amid fears of global banking crisis

The Swiss government has forced through the takeover of stricken bank Credit Suisse by rival UBS for almost $3.25bn (£2.65bn) – well below its market value – amid fears that a failure to protect depositors would trigger a new global banking crisis.

After a weekend of frantic talks, the Swiss government and the banking regulator brokered a deal once it became clear a $54bn loan to Credit Suisse from the Swiss central bank had failed to halt the precipitous slide in its share price.

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US court drops Libor rate-rigging charges against ex-UBS trader

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Judge dismisses case against British former trader Tom Hayes, who was jailed over interest rate scandal

A New York court has dismissed a criminal indictment against Tom Hayes, the British former trader at UBS and Citigroup who served five and a half years in a UK prison for rigging the Libor lending benchmark.

Prosecutors in the US filed a motion to dismiss the case against Hayes and another former UBS trader, Roger Darin.

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Protesters call on banks to ‘drop African debt’ in wake of Covid

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World’s poorest nations saddled with ‘imprisoning’ debt, hampering responses to the pandemic, say activists protesting HSBC meeting

Activists at a demonstration outside the annual general meeting of HSBC in London have demanded the bank and other financial giants provide debt relief to African countries hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic.

In an attempt to highlight the role of private creditors in the debt crises of the world’s poorest countries, campaigners with “drop the debt” banners gathered outside HSBC’s AGM at the Southbank Centre.

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European banks urged to stop funding oil trade in Amazon

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Indigenous people in headwaters region say financing harms communities and ecosystems

Indigenous people living at the headwaters of the Amazon have called on European banks to stop financing oil development in the region, as it poses a threat to them and damages a fragile ecosystem, after a new report found $10bn in previously undisclosed funding for oil in the region.

The headwaters of the Amazon in Ecuador and Peru are home to more than 500,000 indigenous people, including some who choose to live in voluntary isolation. The area, covering about 30m hectares (74m acres), hosts a diverse rainforest ecosystem, but it is threatened by the expansion of oil drilling.

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