UBS Chair Says Key Business Decisions Might Be Unavoidable Amid Swiss Capital Plan

By Adria Calatayud

UBS Group's Chairman Colm Kelleher said key business decisions might soon become unavoidable for the Swiss bank as it evaluates how to mitigate a potential hit from Switzerland's plan to introduce stricter capital rules.

The Swiss government last year proposed an overhaul of its "Too big to fail" banking regime, including higher capital requirements on the country's largest bank. UBS has estimated the plan would require its UBS AG unit to hold around $22 billion in additional capital if the proposal is implemented in the current form.

In his speech at UBS's annual general meeting Wednesday, Kelleher said the capital requirements proposed by the Swiss Federal Council would make the bank an international outlier and weaken it compared to rivals.

Kelleher said UBS wants to remain headquartered in Switzerland and that it was ready to work with Switzerland's finance ministry, central bank, financial regulators and lawmakers on new regulations in an effort to reinforce financial stability while strengthening competitiveness.

"In the meanwhile, it is our duty to evaluate appropriate measures to address, if confirmed, the negative effects of these extreme proposals in order to minimize the impact on our shareholders, clients, employees and the communities in which we operate," Kelleher said. "Against this backdrop, and amid growing pressure from markets and many of you, our shareholders, key business decisions may soon become unavoidable."

UBS executives have previously said the amount of additional share buybacks beyond the $3 billion the bank committed to would partly depend on further visibility on its future regulatory regime.

Write to Adria Calatayud at adria.calatayud@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 15, 2026 08:06 ET (12:06 GMT)