Sergio Ermotti is unhappy about increasing Swiss banking regulation. The UBS boss is toying with the threat of moving the bank's headquarters out of Switzerland.
«I'm Swiss, and I want UBS to stay in Switzerland, but nothing is 100 percent certain,» Ermotti told Swiss weekly «Matin Dimanche» (in French, behind paywall). «I just told the truth,» said Ermotti, and referred to similar comments he made to «Bloomberg Magazine» earlier this month.
Then, Ermotti raised eyebrows by saying that there is not 100 percent guarantee that UBS will remain in Switzerland. He drew parallels between Sweden's Nordea Bank, which opted to shun Stockholm in favor of Finnish headquarters.
Politically Provocative
The Swedish bank is attempting to circumvent stricter Swedish regulation, and hoping for a million-dollar cost-savings boost as a result. In moving its headquarters to Helsinki, Nordea will be subject to wider European regulation as part of the bloc's banking union, which Sweden isn't part of.
For Ermotti, who was passionate about restoring UBS' luster as a national champion following a series of scandals when he became CEO, to reinforce his comments in a domestic paper is aimed at provoking a political rethink of Swiss regulation.
UBS is no longer controlled by Swiss investors, he said. The CEO said his goal is not to cause concern, but to raise awareness of what is happening in the banking sector – including the reality that UBS won't rule out moving its headquarters out of Switzerland.
