Swiss bank UBS may ask US regulators to expand its license to sell more complex products and sophisticated investment advice to wealthy Americans living in Switzerland as it seeks to woo US taxpayers abroad for growth. In an interview published on Sunday, Chief Executive Sergio Ermotti told Swiss newspaper SonntagsZeitung that UBS currently cannot sell some products and investments to US taxpayers in Switzerland.
Ermotti did not specify which products, but a banking source told Reuters they would be investments and advice that UBS's Swiss-based Swiss Financial Advisers unit (SFA), which caters to US taxpayers the country above a certain wealth threshold, cannot offer now. According to the source, UBS is reviewing options and is likely to approach the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to seek regulatory permission for some currently off-limits products.
The source did not name specific products under review. Expanding UBS's licence could help it compete against US rivals just as the largest Swiss bank is seeking more business with wealthy US citizens living abroad, to help accelerate its wealth management business where transaction volumes have been modest.
"Most billionaires are Americans," Ermotti said in the newspaper interview. "We don't want to just cede that business to the US banks." In 2009, UBS paid $780 million to settle a dispute over wealthy Americans who had stashed undeclared money in Swiss accounts.
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