By Adria Calatayud
UBS Group called on Switzerland to reassess alternatives to its proposal to increase capital requirements, as the banking group said the plan would hurt its operations and place a burden on the country's economy.
The Zurich-based company on Monday reiterated its opposition to the Swiss government's capital plans in its formal response to the proposal, which includes a requirement to hold more capital in Switzerland for the bank's big overseas subsidiaries.
UBS said the proposed requirement is disproportionate and based on extreme assumptions, would hike its capital needs by about $23 billion, and lead to a weakened Swiss economy. Alternatives that would have an equivalent effect at a lower cost haven't been adequately considered, the bank added.
"The proposal would lead to significant additional costs and jeopardize the continuation of the successful UBS business model," the bank said.
The Swiss government outlined the plans in June as an effort to prevent another Credit Suisse-style meltdown and protect taxpayers. UBS took over Credit Suisse in mid-2023 in a deal orchestrated by Swiss authorities.
UBS blamed regulatory uncertainty since the government announced an update to its "too big to fail" banking-regulatory regime in April 2024 through the end of 2025 for its share-price underperformance relative to other European and U.S. banks. UBS estimates its market valuation lagged 27% behind peers over the period, costing its shareholders about 30 billion Swiss francs ($37.48 billion) on top of the around $14 billion in expenses from integrating Credit Suisse.
The bank issued its opinion as part of the government's consultation on the second and main part of the proposal, which has yet to go through the Swiss parliament and could still be revised. A group of Swiss lawmakers in December proposed looser curbs and that UBS be able to issue AT1 bonds--designed to strengthen a bank's capital buffers--rather than equity for some of its capitalization requirements.
UBS in September had already voiced its concerns about the first part of the proposal.
Write to Adria Calatayud at adria.calatayud@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 12, 2026 04:58 ET (09:58 GMT)
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