One of the big names in Swiss banking, who is standing down from the Alpine state's banking industry association, had comments about regulatory proposals that could affect his former employer, UBS.

A former UBS chief executive who was in the role when global markets crashed in 2008, and who is standing down as chairman of the Swiss Bankers Association, has warned that Swiss regulations must not put banking competitiveness behind financial stability. 

Last week, Marcel Rohner referred indirectly to proposed new Swiss capital rules that have put his former employer, UBS, on a collision course with the Alpine state’s government. 

“If legislators and regulators attach less importance to competitiveness than to protecting investors, clients and the stability of the financial system when defining the aims of banking laws and regulations, this can therefore create problems,” Rohner, addressing a Banker’s Day event in St Gallen, said.

Rohner is, as previously reported, standing down as SBA chair. The new chair is Giorgio Pradelli, CEO of EFG International. From 1998 to 2009, Rohner held various management functions at UBS, and was CEO in the final three years of his career there, a turbulent period for financial markets. Rohner has also been a member of the board of directors of Union Bancaire Privée in Geneva since 2010 and has been its vice-chairman since 2016. 

For a heavily regulated sector like the financial centre, therefore, Rohner said he thinks legislation and regulation must be aligned with international norms and keep barriers to market entry low. He noted that protecting clients and safeguarding the stability of the financial system are essential. However, he insisted that competitiveness must also be a goal in its own right, saying that successful regulation stems from carefully weighing these interests against each other.

Possible rule changes
Swiss capital rule changes, if they become law, could mean that UBS would have to hold billions of dollars more Common Equity Tier 1 capital on a pro-forma basis, adding to CET1 changes it has already communicated. In August, lawmakers in Berne proposed a less severe measure on UBS in which the bank would support its foreign subsidiaries with 50 per cent in Common Equity Tier 1 capital, which is far less than the government, which has sought a 100 per cent backing, wanted.

For months, UBS, which is now Switzerland’s only universal bank, has tussled with the government in Berne over proposals on how much shock absorber capital it should be forced to hold. In March 2023, UBS bought Credit Suisse in an emergency deal at the Swiss government’s request after Credit Suisse was hit by a string of scandals and missteps. The takeover revived fears of creating a banking empire that would be “too big to fail.”

Reviewing the experience of the Credit Suisse crisis, Rohner once again highlighted the banks’ special responsibility towards clients, society and their owners as part of a financial system underpinned by the state. 

“Intense competition, the ready availability of qualified specialists and a professional ethics that we have internalised and practise instinctively are the pillars of our future development,” Rohner said. 

Aggregate net income at banks in Switzerland rose 5.8 per cent year-on-year to a record SFr73.8 billion ($91.5 billion) in 2025, according to the Swiss Bankers Association's (SBA) annual Banking Barometer, as reported here.