UBS FACES UP TO CHANGING OFFSHORE PRIVATE BANKING MODEL
UBS Zurich HQ
Changes in the worldwide offshore private banking model and reputational damage from the losses of its investment banking arm mean UBS may continue to suffer private banking outflows. Whereas previously clients at UBS could rely on strict bank secrecy and privacy tools like numbered bank accounts, fisticuffs with US authorities have rendered some of these services obsolete, while scaring away other investors. Many private banks are now taking a different approach to clients who may have undeclared tax liabilities, including greater due diligence and more paperwork. UBS says it continues to lose clients across the board with net new money outflows of 16.7 billion SFR at its wealth management business, which includes private banking, and losses from institutional investors and clients at its US brokerage.
