UBS Group AG is reportedly weighing strategic options, including relocating its headquarters outside Switzerland, as the country advances stricter capital requirements for systemically important banks, according to a Yahoo Finance article citing a Semafor report. On Sept. 23, the Council of States approved a proposal requiring systemically important banks to hold Common Equity Tier 1 capital equal to 90% of their investments in foreign subsidiaries, rejecting a compromise that would have allowed part of the requirement to be met with AT1 capital provided at least 50% was backed by CET1. UBS estimates the 90% requirement would require approximately $16 billion of additional CET1 capital, on top of nearly $15 billion already required following the Credit Suisse acquisition and about $2 billion from other regulatory changes, bringing its total incremental CET1 requirement to approximately $33 billion with an estimated annual cost of around $2.5 billion. The bank is reportedly exploring a potential merger with a foreign bank, with Morgan Stanley cited as a possible partner and Standard Chartered and Deutsche Bank also mentioned as alternatives. The capital debate comes as UBS nears completion of its Credit Suisse integration, having completed the parent-bank merger in May 2024 and the Swiss-bank merger in July 2024, and expects to release more than $6 billion of capital by 2026-end through the wind-down of non-core and legacy assets.
UBS Group AGSwiss Council of States approved stricter capital rules requiring ~$16B more CET1, prompting UBS to weigh relocating its headquarters.
Banco Macro SA B ADR
Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft
Morgan Stanley
Standard Chartered PLC
