UBS diverts deposits to cut Basel III costs

Hong Kong

UBS GROUP has shifted more than US$5 billion of riskier Asia-Pacific deposits into alternative cash investments as new rules raise the cost of holding them.

The world's largest manager of millionaires' money has helped some clients such as hedge funds move their cash into assets held in structures including special purpose vehicles, according to Alessandro Caironi, head of capital market and banking product sales for Asia Pacific at the Swiss bank's wealth management arm. In return, clients receive securities such as short-term structured notes.