Artisan Partners urged UBS to leave Switzerland because of proposed tougher capital requirements. The asset manager said accounts run by its Global Value Team and International Value Group owned more than 60 million UBS shares. UBS responded that its goal remained to operate successfully as a global bank from Switzerland.
Artisan’s letter estimated that the proposal would lift UBS’s common equity tier one requirement from $56 billion to $72 billion. It said the additional $16 billion could otherwise earn a 15% return, or $2.4 billion of annual net income. Applying a 15-times earnings multiple, Artisan calculated about $36 billion of foregone market value.
SHAREHOLDER PRESSURE INCREASED
The intervention added a second prominent investor voice to the debate after Cevian Capital questioned whether a large international bank could remain competitive under the proposed regime. Artisan argued that the expected capital burden outweighed the temporary cost and disruption of changing domicile.
UBS said it would protect shareholder interests through informed decision-making and continued advocacy for regulation that is targeted, proportionate and internationally aligned. Its response did not announce a relocation review or change the bank’s stated intention to remain based in Switzerland.
LEGISLATION REMAINS UNFINISHED
Switzerland’s upper house backed a proposal requiring UBS to support foreign subsidiaries with 90% common equity tier one capital. The overhaul followed the 2023 collapse of Credit Suisse and its emergency acquisition by UBS, but the lower house must still consider the measure.
The next concrete milestone is the lower-house debate on the proposed capital rules. Until parliament completes the process and UBS makes a formal strategic decision, Artisan’s intervention remains a shareholder demand rather than evidence that the bank will leave Switzerland.