Sub-Prime Write-Downs Double at UBS, Chairman to Step Down
On Tuesday Swiss bank UBS doubled its write-downs from the sub-prime crisis on Tuesday to $37B, the largest loss by any bank so far, as its chairman steps down and the company looks for more emergency capital in a second attempt to reverse its fortunes.
The bank has announced $19bn of fresh asset write-downs on top of the $18.4bn it wrote off in 2007, as the value of its assets has plummeted. UBS added that it was seeking to raise 15bn Swiss francs ($15bn; £7.5bn) in capital by issuing new shares.
UBS also announced that its chairman and former chief executive Marcel Ospel would not be seeking re-appointment.
The firm said that the next chapter of the firm's history would be one of "discipline and determination".
"There will be other chapters which will not be perfect but none will be like the ones we have just written".
The US sub-prime problems have hit the balance sheets of banks worldwide and have cost several leading bankers their jobs.
Published on April 1, 2008
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