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UBS AG
Zürich
UBS AG
P.O. Box
8098 Zurich
Switzerland
SWIFT CODE:
UBSWCHZH
Website: www.ubs.com
UBS AG (SIX: UBSN, NYSE: UBS) is a diversified global financial services
company, with its main headquarters in Basel and Zürich, Switzerland.
It is the world's second largest manager of private wealth assets,
and is also the second-largest bank in Europe, by both market
capitalisation and profitability. UBS has a major presence in the United
States, with its American headquarters located in New York City
(Investment banking); Weehawken, New Jersey (Private Wealth Management);
and Stamford, Connecticut (Capital markets). UBS's retail offices are
located throughout the U.S., and in over 50 other countries. UBS is an
abbreviation, which originated from a predecessor firm, for the Union
Bank of Switzerland; however, UBS ceased to be considered a
representational abbreviation after its 1998 merger with Swiss Bank
Corporation.
UBS is present in all major financial centers worldwide. It has offices
in over 50 countries, with about 38% of its employees working in the
Americas, 34% in Switzerland, 15% in the rest of Europe and 13% in Asia
Pacific. UBS's global business groups are wealth management, investment
banking, and asset management. Additionally, UBS is the leading provider
of retail banking and commercial banking services in Switzerland, as of
2009. Overall invested assets are 3.265 trillion Swiss francs (CHF),
shareholders' equity is 47.850 billion CHF and market capitalization is
151.203 billion CHF by the end of 2Q 2007.
In 2007, after incurring huge losses, UBS was forced to turn to the
Government of Singapore for fresh funding. Since then, the largest
shareholder of UBS is Government of Singapore Investment Corporation. In
November 2008, following further dramatic losses, UBS managers pledged
to return bonuses. UBS shareholders voted to accept financial aid from
the Swiss government, to restore the shaken trust in UBS.
In some ways, UBS has evolved on a similar path to its cross-town rival
Credit Suisse. Both are Swiss commercial and retail banks which bought
major U.S. investment banks and both are currently being investigated by
U.S. authorities for allegedly helping 17,000 American citizens to evade
taxes. In an unprecedented move on 18 February 2009, UBS, based on an
order by the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA), has
agreed to immediately provide the United States government with the
identities of, and account information for, about 250 American clients
and to pay US$780 million in fines and restitution.
UBS issued on Tuesday, January 13, 2010, a new code of conduct and
business ethics which all employees are asked to sign. The code
addresses issues such as financial crime, competition, confidentiality,
as well as human rights and environmental issues. The eight-page code
also lays out potential sanctions against employees who violate it,
including warnings, demotions or dismissal. According to Kaspar Villiger,
Chairman of the Board and Oswald J. Grübel, Group CEO, the code is "an
integral part of changing the way UBS conducts business"
History
The UBS U.S. headquarters in New York City houses an art gallery
UBS headquarters in London, Liverpool Street 100UBS was the result of
the merger of the Union Bank of Switzerland and the Swiss Bank
Corporation (SBC) in June 1998. Although the merged company's new name
was originally supposed to be the "United Bank of Switzerland,"
officials opted to call it simply "UBS" because of a name clash with
United Bank Switzerland - a part of the United Bank Limited's Swiss
subsidiary. UBS is no longer an acronym but is the company's brand, like
3M. Its logo of three keys, carried over from SBC, stands for
confidence, security, and discretion.
Prior to the merger, SBC had built a global investment banking business
through its acquisitions of Dillon Read in New York and S.G. Warburg in
London. The first chairman of the merged bank had to
step down in October 1998 due to the Long-Term Capital Management
crisis, which affected the Union Bank of Switzerland.
In 2000, UBS acquired PaineWebber Group Inc. to become the world's
largest wealth management firm for private clients..
Invested assets in all wealth management businesses, including the U.S.,
total CHF 3.265 trillion..
On 9 June 2003, all UBS business groups rebranded under the UBS name as
the company began operating as one large firm. UBS Paine Webber, UBS
Warburg, UBS Asset Management, and others became simply "UBS".. As a result of the rebranding, UBS took a $1B writedown for the
loss of goodwill associated with the retirement of the Paine Webber
brand..
Swiss bank UBS AG reported on 1 April 2008 that it expected to post net
losses of 12 billion Swiss francs (US$12.1 billion) for the first
quarter of 2008 and would seek 15 billion Swiss francs (US$15.1 billion)
in new capital. UBS, hard hit by the U.S. Subprime mortgage crisis, also
said it sees losses and writedowns of approximately US$19 billion on
U.S. real estate and related credit positions. In April 2008 UBS's
long term credit ratings were cut to AA- by Fitch Ratings and Standard &
Poor's, and Aa1 by Moody's..
On 16 October 2008, UBS announced they had CHF 6 billion of new capital
through mandatory convertible notes, fully placed with Swiss
Confederation. The SNB (Swiss National Bank) and UBS made an agreement
to transfer approximately USD 60 billion of currently illiquid
securities and various assets from UBS to a separate fund entity.
On 4 November UBS announced that their third quarter Group net profit
was in line with their 16 October pre announcement, with net profit
attributable to UBS shareholders standing at CHF 296 million..
This quarter was affected by a further CHF 4.8 billon of write-downs and
losses on risk positions, gain on own credit of CHF 2.2m and a tax
credit of over CHF 900m.
UBS announced on 12 November 2008 that from 2009 no more than one-third
of any cash bonus would be paid out in the year it is earned with the
rest held in reserve. Share incentives would also vest after three
years, and top executives would have to hold 75% of any vested shares,
with share bonus accounts subject to “malus” charges..
It was also confirmed UBS chairman Peter Kurer would no longer have any
extra variable compensation – just a cash salary and a fixed allotment
of shares, which cannot be sold for four years. This aligned the
chairman’s rewards with group performance while minimising risk. UBS
also said that Kurer hoped that others would follow his lead. It was
possible that regulators and influential groups such as the Financial
Stability Forum would help his cause.
In November 2008, UBS put $6 billion of equity into the new “bad bank”
entity, keeping only an option to benefit if the value of its assets
were to recover. Heralded as a “neat” package by the NY Times, the UBS
structure guaranteed clarity for UBS investors by making an outright
sale.
On Friday, 30 January 2009, SNB Chairman Jean-Pierre Roth, the head of
the Swiss National Bank, was quoted on Reuters as saying that UBS and
Credit Suisse are the two best capitalised banks in the world.
On Monday, 9 February 2009, UBS announced that it lost nearly 20 billion
Swiss francs (US$17.2 billion) in 2008, the biggest single-year loss in
the history of Switzerland.
On Tuesday, 10 February 2009, UBS confirmed the Board of Directors and
the Group Executive Board's commitment to each of the UBS business
divisions and strategy. Despite difficult market conditions, it was
stated that UBS has made substantial progress in adjusting its
operations and has prepared itself for the new market environment, with
a "substantial reduction" in risk positions during the fourth
quarter.
UBS is resolving investigations relating to its US cross-border business
by entering into a deferred prosecution agreement with the US Department
of Justice and a Consent Order with the US Securities and Exchange
Commission. Of the $780 million that UBS will pay, $380 million
represents disgorgement of profits from its cross-border business. The
remainder represents United States taxes that UBS failed to withhold on
the accounts. The figures include interest, penalties and restitution
for unpaid taxes. As part of the deal, UBS also entered into a consent
order with the Securities and Exchange Commission in which it agreed to
charges of having acted as an unregistered broker-dealer and investment
adviser for Americans.
On March 11, 2009 UBS AG posted a revised FY 2008 reported 20.9 billion
CHF ($18 billion) loss.It was reported UBS was “extremely cautious”
about the outlook for 2009.
At the Annual General Meeting on April 15, 2009, UBS announced it was
planning to cut 8,700 jobs on its return to profitability. Due to
the global financial crisis, UBS has had to make about $50bn in
write-downs and announce 11,000 job cuts since 2007.
On April 21, UBS announced that it has agreed to sell its Brazilian
financial services business, UBS Pactual, for approximately USD 2.5
billion to BTG Investments. The sale of the Brazilian business is in
line with UBS’s other measures aiming to reduce its risk profile and to
become more profitable.
On Monday April 27, the head of the investment bank division Jerker
Johansson resigned with immediate effect. He was replaced by Alexander
Wilmot-Sitwell and Carsten Kengeter as Co-CEOs of the investment bank
branch.
On May 1, 2009, UBS formally cut ties to private banker Raoul Weil, who
faces U.S. federal grand jury charges. In November 2008, Raoul had been
suspended after he was indicted in correlation to the tax evasion
affair.
On May 5, 2009, UBS confirmed a first quarter net loss of two billion
Swiss francs ($1.75 billion), which was less than initially
expected.
On May 20, 2009, UBS restated its 2008 annual report. The bank announced
a further reduction in net profit of CHF 450 million, and reduction in
equity and equity attributable to UBS shareholders of CHF 269
million.
On June 25, 2009, UBS announced the appointment of Chi-Won Yoon as
Chairman & CEO of Asia Pacific succeeding Rory Tapner, who is leaving
the bank after 25 years.
Taking advantage of current market conditions, UBS strengthened its
capital base by placing 293.3 million shares from existing authorized
capital. The shares were placed with a small number of large
institutional investors. UBS claims that this capital raising aims at
strengthening confidence in UBS and the Swiss financial center, which is
consistent with the view of the regulators.
On August 4, 2009, UBS announced a second quarter loss of CHF 1.4
billion ($1.32 billion).
On August 20, 2009, the Swiss government announced it was selling its
CHF 6 billion stake in UBS, making a significant profit; it had
purchased 332.2 million mandantory convertible notes in 2008 to help UBS
clear its balance sheets of toxic assets.
On September 29, 2009, UBS announced that two directors, Sergio
Marchionne and Peter Voser will not stand for re-election to the board
at the general assembly in April.
On November 3, 2009, UBS announced a third quarter net loss of CHF 564
million. After adjusting the pre-tax loss for three substantial
accounting charges totaling CHF 2,150 million, the underlying pre-tax
profit was CHF 1,557 million, a further improvement compared with the
prior quarter. The improvement in underlying Group profitability was
driven by better performance in the Investment Bank's fixed income,
currencies and commodities business.
The UBS Investor Day 2009 took place on 17 November 2009. UBS CEO Oswald
Grübel addressed key shareholders stating, “We are building a new UBS,
one that performs to the highest standards and behaves with integrity
and honesty; one that distinguishes itself not only through the clarity
and reliability of the advice and services it provides but in how it
manages and executes." Switzerland’s largest bank plans to reach pretax
profit of 15 billion Swiss francs, or $14.9 billion, and a return on
equity — a measure of profitability — of 15 percent to 20 percent
sometime between 2012 and 2014. The bank said it would stick to its
business model of providing wealth management, investment banking and
asset management services and would focus on the “integrity” of its
operations.
On 24 November 2009, UBS said that a report issued by Standard & Poor's
isn't representative of the bank's capital position in relation to its
peers. UBS said the bank's risk-adjusted capital ratio, or RAC, is
estimated to be 7.1%, and not the 2.2% reported by S&P. The bank issued
the following statement, "Their report shows a RAC as of 30 June 2009
which does not take into account two important components of UBS'
capital; the 6 billion Swiss francs [$5.9 billion] mandatory convertible
notes (MCNs) fully converted in August 2009 and the CHF13 billion MCNs
due to convert by March 2010."
In November 2009, UBS ranked No. 1 in Switzerland, and No.2 globally in
the Lundquist CSR Online Awards 2009. The award is given for
demonstrating best online CSR communications.
On February 2, 2010, UBS topped the charts for the ninth year in a row
in Institutional Investor's annual ranking of developed Europe's most
highly regarded equity analysts. In a year of extremes for the equity
markets, money managers say that no firm did a better job than UBS of
keeping them informed about which European sectors, countries and
industries offered the greatest potential.
On 9 February 2010, UBS reported a 2009 fourth quarter profit of CHF
1,025 million, with all business divisions also reporting a pre-tax
profit in fourth quarter 2009. UBS CEO Grübel says UBS is delivering on
its plan to build a new UBS, as demonstrated by its return to
profitability and strengthened capitalization.
On Monday 15 March 2010, UBS released the bank's FY 2009 Annual Report.
UBS recorded a net loss attributable to shareholders of CHF 2,736
million, a considerable reduction to the prior year. UBS returned to
profitability in the fourth quarter. Wealth Management & Swiss Bank,
Global Asset Management and Wealth Management Americas contributed
positively to the overall result. UBS's strategic priorities for 2010
will be to; (i) further strengthen its position as a leading bank for
high net worth and ultra high net worth clients around the world; (ii)
continue to be a leading firm across all client segments in Switzerland,
and (iii) be a top tier bank in growth regions where they choose to
operate. Two key methods the bank aims to achieve this is by re-fousing
the business portfolio and transforming they way they operate.
On March 26, 2010, UBS announced the appointment of Lukas Gähwiler as
CEO of UBS Switzerland and co-CEO of Wealth Management & Swiss Bank.
Lukas Gähwiler will begin his role at UBS on April 1, 2010 and will also
become a member of the Group Executive Board.[42]
On April 12, 2010 UBS announced that it expects to report a profit
before tax of at least CHF 2.5 billion for first quarter 2010.[43]
On April 29, 2010 UBS announced that it is buying Brazilian brokerage
Link Investimentos for $112million, a move that will help the bank beef
up its wealth and asset management businesses in the region.[44]
On May 4, UBS Investment Bank was voted the Leading Pan-European
Brokerage firm for Equity and Equity Linked Research for a record tenth
successive year.The Thomson Reuters Extel Survey ranked UBS number one
in all three of the key disciplines of research: Research (tenth year);
Sales (ninth year running) and Equity Trading and Execution (up from
second place in 2009). This year UBS was also named as the number one
Leading Pan-European Brokerage Firm for Economics and Strategy research.
[45]
On May 5, 2010 UBS AG reported a first-quarter net profit of 2.2 billion
Swiss francs ($2 billion) on a strong performance by its trading
division, lower costs and fewer customer withdrawals.[46]
On June 10, UBS Investment Bank was voted the Leading Pan-European
Brokerage firm for Equity and Equity Linked Research for a record tenth
successive year.The Thomson Reuters Extel Survey ranked UBS number one
in all three of the key disciplines of research: Research (tenth year);
Sales (ninth year running) and Equity Trading and Execution (up from
second place in 2009). This year UBS was also named as the number one
Leading Pan-European Brokerage Firm for Economics and Strategy research.
[47]
On June 17, UBS welcomed Swiss lawmakers approved deal to reveal U.S.
clients data and account details, suspected of tax evasion.
UBS was named one of
the 100 Best Companies for Working Mothers living in the U.S. in 2006
for the fourth consecutive year[53] by U.S. based Working Mother
magazine. It is a member of the Stonewall Diversity Champions scheme and
has active Gay and Lesbian, ethnic minority, and women's networking
groups. UBS was included on Business Week's The Best Places to Launch a
Career 2008, and ranked #96 out of the 119 total companies listed |
