Banking Giant UBS May Attempt To Avoid Regulations by Moving Business to US: Report

The Switzerland-based banking giant UBS is reportedly considering a move to the United States to avoid newly proposed capital requirements.

Top UBS executives, including chairman Colm Kelleher and CEO Sergio Ermott, have met with the Trump administration to discuss the possibility of purchasing a US bank or a merger, reports the NY Post, citing people close to the matter.

The Swiss government is proposing rules to reduce the risk of another banking crisis that would require the 162-year-old bank to increase its financial capital cushion by $26 billion to meet the proposed new minimum capital levels.

Says the Zurich-based bank,

“[UBS] strongly disagrees with the extreme increase…

These changes would result in capital requirements that are neither proportionate nor inter­nationally aligned.”

According to people close to the matter, UBS executives are interested in relocating to the US due to its more lenient regulatory environment. An unnamed Trump official says that the President’s efforts around deregulation are meant to attract companies like UBS to the US, among other things.

“This is what we want.”

A UBS (UBS) spokesperson had no comment for the story, nor did a spokesperson for U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

UBS AG has a market cap of $131.8 billion, and is trading for $41.60 per share at time of writing.

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