The Swiss National Bank voiced approval on Thursday for the SFr13bn ($11.3bn) cash injection from Singaporean and Middle Eastern investors that this week helped to recapitalise UBS, the country’s biggest bank, in its first public reaction to the deal. Philipp Hildebrand, the central bank’s vice chairman, said the fact UBS was able to attract “a large and internationally recognised Asian investor” illustrates one tangible benefit of the globalisation of financial markets. Senior Swiss bankers said the decision by the Government of Singapore Investment Corp to buy SFr11bn of mandatory convertible notes could in time give UBS a significant business boost. Lex says investors have reason to feel miffed – UBS’s proprietary bets on subprime may have wiped out its profits for the entire year and the dilution caused by the capital increase is hardly comforting. It now must prove it can quickly remake a suitably prudent yet profitable investment bank

This entry was posted by Gwen Robinson on Friday, December 14th, 2007 at 5:35 and is filed under Capital markets. Tagged with ubs. Edit this entry.