Artisan Partners urges UBS to leave Switzerland due to new capital rules, calling the requirements excessive and punitive. The firm, managing over 60 million UBS shares (about 2% of stock), argues the Alpine nation is no longer attractive for the bank. This follows similar concerns from Cevian Capital, which said running a big international bank from Switzerland under the proposed regime is not viable.
UBS maintains its goal is to operate globally from Switzerland and continues working for a better outcome. Swiss lawmakers are imposing stricter capital rules to make banks safer after Credit Suisse's near-failure, requiring UBS to add around $16 billion in extra equity capital. Artisan says this cushion would earn zero return, unlike potential 15% returns if deployed elsewhere.
UBS counters that capital was not the cause of Credit Suisse’s failure and that new rules won’t fix weak governance or risk controls.
Source: Wall Street Journal Markets · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing