UBS has no intention of leaving Switzerland, says compliance chief

[ZURICH] UBS has no plans to leave Switzerland, the bank’s compliance and governance chief Markus Ronner said on Friday (Mar 28) amid a debate on how to regulate the country’s biggest lender.

This month the head of the Swiss Bankers Association said UBS might consider leaving the country if the authorities drew up regulations for the bank that are too onerous.

Speaking in a debate with lawmakers on national broadcaster SRF, Ronner said UBS had a very close relationship to its home country and “certainly has no plans to leave Switzerland”.

Two years ago, UBS acquired Credit Suisse after its old rival collapsed, sparking calls for stricter regulation in the industry to prevent the risk of another banking crisis.

Reuters reported on Wednesday that UBS had floated the idea of capping the future size of its investment bank as a concession to head off tougher capital requirements. REUTERS