The head of wealth management at the Swiss firm said it is reviewing the future of its business in Australia, while a source said that this part of the lender could be spun off.

The wealth management head at UBS has said the Zurich-listed firm is reviewing its wealth business in Australia, Bloomberg has reported. Another news service quoted an unnamed source stating the unit could be sold.

"You have businesses who perform extremely well and you have businesses that struggle," UBS's Juerg Zeltner told the news service. "That's part of performance assessment and yes, we are reviewing our business in Australia."

Separately, Reuters said a source, whom it did not name, said that UBS held a staff meeting earlier this week where the head of the bank's Australian wealth management division was asked if UBS is looking at selling the business.

The response was, "as a CEO, it's my job to keep looking at all our businesses", which was interpreted by many bankers present as an implicit admission that the unit is being considered for sale, the source is quoted as saying.

A spokeswoman for UBS Australia did not comment, reports said.

In Australia, UBS currently offers wealth management, investment banking and asset management services.