Ubs: relocation of headquarters unlikely, according to Keller-Sutter

Context

In brief

• Keller-Sutter considers the relocation of Ubs's headquarters abroad unlikely
• Ubs contests the proposals on capital requirements
• The orientation in the Council of States was different
• A meeting with Colm Kelleher is scheduled for November

Key facts

• Main figure: Karin Keller-Sutter
• Bank: Ubs
• Dossier: stricter rules on own funds
• Institution: Federal Council
• Recent decision: Council of States
• CEO mentioned: Sergio Ermotti
• Chairman of the board mentioned: Colm Kelleher
• Interview: Aargauer Zeitung

A relocation of Ubs's headquarters abroad, considered in connection with the planned stricter rules on own funds, appears unlikely according to Karin Keller-Sutter. The finance minister said this in an interview published by Aargauer Zeitung. The point of her argument is the relationship between the capital requirements being discussed at federal level and the cost of any relocation.

The concessions already granted

Keller-Sutter recalls that the Federal Council granted Ubs significant concessions under the own-funds ordinance.

“We granted Ubs significant concessions under the own-funds ordinance.”

The Federal Council also refrained from further general tightening of capital ratios, recommended by experts after the Credit Suisse crisis. Despite these decisions, Ubs called all the minister's proposals “extreme”. Keller-Sutter describes the institution's approach as an aggressive strategy, probably based on the idea that it would prevail in Parliament anyway, as had happened in the past.

The minister presents these measures as an element that makes the possibility of a relocation less plausible. Her account therefore concerns both own funds and the relationship between Ubs and its Swiss headquarters: not only the rules applicable to the institution, but also the cost and complexity of leaving.

The political response

The recent decision by the Council of States, however, showed a different orientation, at least in that chamber. According to the minister, Ubs must not leave the Confederation: many analysts and experts consider the requirements reasonable and easily manageable for the institution.

A relocation would be much more expensive and legally very complex, Keller-Sutter adds. The bank would no longer be Swiss, while its business model is based on Switzerland, on “Swissness”, on the rule of law and on the country's political stability. The Federal Councillor also points to private banks and capital inflows recorded during the conflict in the Middle East: for her, these are signs of confidence in Switzerland as an operating base.

The dossier remains in Parliament. After the Council of States' decision, Keller-Sutter did not call CEO Sergio Ermotti, and the CEO did not get in touch. A meeting with Ubs chairman Colm Kelleher is scheduled for November, during a regular exchange of views with representatives of the financial centre. The minister specifies, however, that this is not the time to negotiate.

To find one's way around Swiss banking services, readers can consult the guide to conti bancari in Svizzera.

Operational details

What changes for people living in Switzerland

The news should be read as an institutional development, not as an operational order addressed to residents. The source does not announce a transfer that has already taken place, a closure, or new conditions for customers: it reports Keller-Sutter's assessment that leaving the Confederation would be more costly and legally complex. For the national public, the concrete point is therefore the scope of the comparison: equity capital, the bank's headquarters, and its relationship with Switzerland.

The first practical distinction concerns the political timetable. The relief measures in the ordinance on capital requirements and the decision to forgo further general tightening are already presented by the minister as decisions that have been adopted; the dossier on stricter rules remains under review by Parliament. The reader must not confuse a contested proposal with a rule already in force.

This comparison has an interpretive consequence: Ubs's possible departure is not described as an automatic response to a single act, but as a choice that would entail costs and complexities of its own. Keller-Sutter adds that, outside Switzerland, the bank would no longer be a Swiss bank. For those who work or live in the country, the reference to «swissness» signals the value the minister attaches to the headquarters, but does not provide an estimate of employment, incomes, or daily spending.

The reference to private banks and capital inflows during the conflict in the Middle East must also be kept in context: it is the argument Keller-Sutter uses to describe the trust placed in Switzerland as an operational base. It is not a quantitative forecast and does not make it possible to calculate individual effects.

To explore the personal side further, without attributing to the dossier effects that the source does not measure, the reader can separate this matter from costo della vita in Svizzera.

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Key points

How to follow the dossier without overinterpreting it

Those who want to follow the next developments can proceed step by step, keeping facts, positions and hypotheses separate.

1. Identify the stage. The text places the dossier under examination by Parliament. This indication comes before any prediction about the venue: it does not describe a completed relocation, but an issue still under discussion.

2. Separate the measures. Note on one side the concessions granted in the own-funds ordinance and the renunciation of further general tightening; on the other, the proposals that Ubs deemed extreme. This way, the reader does not treat all the measures as a single measure.

3. Attribute each position. The assessment that leaving would be costly and legally complex is Karin Keller-Sutter's. The source reports that Sergio Ermotti was not called and did not make himself heard: it therefore does not report an announcement by the CEO about the relocation.

4. Mark the next appointment. In November, the minister will meet Colm Kelleher in a regular exchange with representatives of the financial center. Keller-Sutter specifies that it is not the time to negotiate; the meeting should therefore be understood according to this definition.

5. Limit the conclusions. The text links Ubs's business model to Switzerland, «swissness», the rule of law and political stability. However, it does not offer a calculation for families, workers or clients: personal figures or operational instructions regarding one's own banking relationships cannot be derived from this.

This reading protects against two opposite errors: considering the relocation of the headquarters inevitable or interpreting the concessions already mentioned as the dossier's closure. The source maintains only that Keller-Sutter considers the departure unlikely and that the discussion remains parliamentary. For a personal income check, use the calcolatore stipendio.

Source: laregione.ch