UBS Says It Stays Committed to US Brokerage

UBS said it is still committed to its U.S. brokerage business, after the Financial Times on Sunday reported the chief executive now favoured a management shake up instead of a sale.

UBS has repeatedly considered a sale of its U.S. wealth management business, which consists mainly of the Paine Webber unit acquired in 2000, and held unsuccessful talks with Morgan Stanley , among others, late last year, the FT said.

A spokeswoman at UBS in New York told Reuters the bank does not plan to sell its U.S. wealth management business and remains "committed to it." She declined to comment on the report of the management shake-up.

Sharon Lorimer

UBS has lost billions of dollars in the global financial crisis and also faces a high profile U.S. tax case, in which authorities are trying to force the bank to identify some 52,000 Americans suspected of using secret foreign accounts to hide nearly $15 billion in assets.

The bank has resisted the request because it says it would violate Swiss bank secrecy laws.

Bank of America has now toppled UBS as the world's biggest wealth manager as the industry faces shrinking wealth and another tough 12 months, a survey showed.

UBS considered the sale of Paine Webber, which it bought for about $10 billion as a bridgehead into North America, last year as it sought to overhaul its business and raise capital.

After taking over at the Swiss bank in February, new CEO Oswald Gruebel also looked at offloading the business, which sells financial products to wealthy clients, the FT said.

However, bankers said Gruebel has opted to keep the business for the time being and UBS has contacted senior financial industry figures to sound them out over taking a top role at the U.S. brokerage business, the paper reported.

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