UBS Chairman concerned about discussions on capital requirements
Published: Wednesday, Apr 24th 2024, 10:50
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UBS Chairman Colm Kelleher has once again spoken out against additional capital requirements for the big bank. He was "seriously concerned" about some of the discussions surrounding additional capital requirements, said the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the major Swiss bank at the Annual General Meeting in Basel on Wednesday.
It is understandable that the takeover of Credit Suisse has triggered a renewed debate in Switzerland about how banks should be regulated, said Kelleher according to the text of the speech. UBS supports many of the recommendations made by supervisory authorities and expert committees, including those in the Federal Council's latest report on banking stability. "Additional capital is the wrong remedy," he emphasized at the same time.
"The capital requirements for global systemically important banks have increased significantly over the past 15 years," emphasized Kelleher. It was not capital requirements that were too low that forced Credit Suisse into a historic rescue. His conclusion from CS's problems is that there is no regulatory solution for a flawed business model. The business model is the responsibility of the Group Executive Board and the Board of Directors, "trust cannot be regulated."
Nicht "Too big to fail"
In his opinion, UBS is also not "too big to fail". "UBS is one of the best capitalized banks in Europe, with a sustainable business model and a correspondingly low-risk balance sheet," the Chairman of the Board of Directors told shareholders.
UBS is and will remain firmly rooted here as a Swiss bank, Kelleher continued. "Switzerland is a cornerstone of our strategy and we have no intention of changing that."
Kelleher also promised shareholders that he would continue to pursue the goal of a progressive dividend payout. For the 2024 financial year, UBS is aiming to increase the dividend per share by a mid-teens percentage. "Our goal is for our total capital distributions to exceed the pre-acquisition level by 2026."
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