Ten Years On, UBS Clears Crisis Losses
UBS CEO Sergio Ermotti has quietly drawn a definitive line under the Swiss bank’s nearly $30 billion in losses amassed during the 2008/09 financial crisis.
UBS’ fourth-quarter result was poorly received: investors sent the bank's shares down nearly five percent the day after CEO Sergio Ermotti reported a $1.25 billion profit for the year.
Despite being riddled with weakness, as finews.asia reported, the fourth quarter marks the first time since 2008 that UBS’ profits equal its crisis-time losses of nearly 30 billion Swiss francs ($30.1 billion).
Switzerland was one of the first countries to exit bank stakes taken in a massive shore-up of the financial system in 2008. The goal was «an adequate return for the taxpayer,» Marco Illy, the renowned investment banker who handled the sale, told a journalist at the time.
And at least one shareholder got it: in mid-2009, the Swiss government was rewarded with a profit of more than $1 billion for its prescience. At that time, the U.K., Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium were still sitting on their part or full ownership of major banks.
Thirteen months ago, Ermotti and former Bank of England Governor Paul Tucker crossed swords over the losses, taxes, and bonuses, as finews.asia reported. The bank under Ermotti, who described restoring UBS’ luster as a big part of his role when he took the top post in 2011, has definitively cleared those losses.
