Swiss bank UBS suffers big loss
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Steve Chiotakis: More bank earning reports out of Europe this morning.
Switzerland’s largest bank, UBS, is posting a higher than expected loss of more than $1.3 billion dollars for its second quarter. We get more now from London and Christopher Werth.
Christopher Werth: UBS has paid a price for trying to get its house in order. It spent over $2 billion restructuring and cutting loose overseas operations in Brazil. But that’s only half the story. The bank has been embroiled in a dispute over the United States over releasing financial information on wealthy American clients who might be hiding money from Uncle Sam.
Jan Randolph is with IHS Global Insight. He explains why worried clients have polled over $37 billion from its wealth and asset management divisions.
Jan Randolph: Why take the unnecessary risk if you know that UBS is under the spotlight. You’ll park your money somewhere else, under the radar as it were. And there are other smaller banks in Switzerland that may be safer for you.
One smaller bank that may be benefitting is the not-so-small Credit Suisse. It’s posted profits of nearly $1.5 billion. But troubles at UBS may be easing. A deal with U.S. authorities was announced last Friday. Details are due later this week.
In London, this is Christopher Werth for Marketplace.
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