Banking giant UBS is ramping up its threats to leave Switzerland and set up shop in the US — a radical response to Swiss regulators who have proposed onerous new capital requirements on the financial behemoth, The Post has learned.
Executives at the 162-year-old Swiss bank — led by highly regarded Chairman Colm Kelleher and CEO Sergio Ermotti — have even recently met with Trump administration officials to prepare for the possible seismic strategy shift that could include the purchase of a US bank or a merger, according to people close to the matter.
The new capital requirements would force UBS to increase the size of its cushion against losses by $26 billion — a staggering sum that the bank believes will make it impossible to compete globally.
Fears of banking crisis
The Swiss government has proposed the rules in response to fears that the country could face a fresh banking crisis. In 2023, UBS took over its one-time rival Credit Suisse following a run on the bank and concerns over its solvency.
But UBS recently said it “strongly disagrees with the extreme increase . . . These changes would result in capital requirements that are neither proportionate nor internationally aligned.”
The banking giant said it is working with Swiss regulators to scale back the capital increases.
In the meantime, UBS executives are drawing up plans to move their headquarters from Zurich to the US, where they hope to attract a more lenient regulatory environment, according to people close to the matter.
A UBS press representative had no comment, but would not deny meeting with Trump officials about the potential new US HQ. A spokeswoman for Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent declined to comment, and also wouldn’t deny the on-going talks.
One Trump administration official with knowledge of the matter said the president’s deregulation efforts are focused on convincing foreign companies like UBS to operate in the US. “This is what we want,” the official said.
UBS AG, which has a market value of $126 billion, could team up with any number of midsized banks and not be burdened by the so-called deposit cap placed on US banks when they seek to expand through acquisitions.
For example, megabank JPMorgan Chase is barred from making a major acquisition because it would exceed the cap and control more than 10% of total bank deposits.
PNC Financial, a midsized bank lin Pittsburgh, is often rumored to be on the block, as has been Bank of New York. They have market values of $79 billion and $74 billion, respectively.
Deposits in the US are guaranteed up to $250,000 per account by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., and other government regulations deem major financial institutions “systemically important” to the US economy, a designation created in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis and the government bailouts that followed that focuses greater regulation.
Likewise, UBS is considered a systemically important bank in Switzerland though its capital requirements and supervision are considered more onerous than imposed by US regulators.
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