ZURICH (Reuters) -A second Swiss parliamentary committee on Friday backed a motion set to delay some tougher capital rules for UBS, in a move signalling significant support among conservative and centrist parties for the bank’s demands to soften proposed regulation.
The motion narrowly adopted by the upper chamber’s economic affairs and taxation committee passed its sister body in the lower chamber in June, just weeks after the government presented a long-awaited plan to tighten Swiss banking rules following the collapse of Credit Suisse in 2023.
The text instructs the Swiss government to submit all of its planned banking stability measures to parliament rather than issuing some directly via so-called ordinance measures.
This could give UBS more time to fulfill the capital requirements for a proposed stricter valuation of assets like software or deferred tax assets.
The government had envisaged implementing these requirements as ordinance measures, effective from 2027. But they could now be handed over to parliament, in which case the new rules are expected to enter into force in 2028 at the earliest.
Overall, the government said UBS would need to find up to $26 billion in additional core capital. It estimated the ordinance measures in the package could account for around $3 billion of the total.
UBS has criticised the new capital proposals, arguing they are not proportionate and risk putting the bank at a disadvantage against international competitors.
The motion passed the parliamentary committees with votes from the right-wing Swiss People’s Party (SVP), centre-right Liberal Party (FDP) and centrist Green Liberal Party (GLP).
It still needs to be adopted by parliament to become binding, with the debate set to take place in September. The three parties together have a majority in the lower house but would need additional votes to pass the upper chamber.
(Reporting by Ariane LuthiEditing by Dave Graham)
