Swiss government assesses how UBS would be treated abroad if it moved its headquarters
The study follows UBS's warning that the debate over its capital requirements is heading in a direction the bank does not accept.
The Swiss government has assessed how UBS would fare under other legal regimes if it moved its headquarters. The work answers the bank's own warnings that the Swiss debate on capital is going the wrong way for it.
The upper house plan would require UBS to hold $16 billion more in capital. UBS puts the total of extra capital since the Credit Suisse takeover at about $33 billion.
Parliament has not settled the matter. A Swiss lower house committee voted on Wednesday to discuss the capital rules. The lower house's next vote on substance will fix the final figure.
Relocation had been an implied threat. By studying it, the government treats it as a real policy variable rather than lobbying rhetoric. That changes the balance in the parliamentary fight, and it gives both sides a credible alternative to react to before that vote.
The jobs at stake are part of that reaction. On October 25, the Swiss Bank Employees Association told lawmakers that a move could put up to 12,000 of UBS's roughly 34,000 Swiss jobs at risk, according to Capmad.
Chairman Colm Kelleher warned in September that UBS would have to consider its future in Switzerland if the rules became too strict, The Edge Malaysia reported. It said CEO Sergio Ermotti told CNBC shortly before mid-October that staying in Switzerland is good for the economy and for shareholders.
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