UBSboss wants to buy its way out of government bad bank deal
UBS chief executive Oswald Grubel yesterday said that the bank is aiming to sever its ties with the Swiss government by buying its way out of a “bad bank deal”.
UBS is currently paying expensive rates on the bad bank scheme for protection against big losses on its toxic assets. But its plans to ditch the scheme has caused a row between the bank and Swiss financial regulator Finma who have called it “out of the question”.
“We have to make an offer to buy back those assets” Grubel told the Financial Times.
UBS has been hit particularly hard by the credit crisis, suffering from big losses in the US sub-prime mortgage market. The bank reported a loss of SFr1.4bn (£830m) between April and June.