Trump Hails Iran Talks, Swiss Lawmakers Reject UBS Capital Compromise
Trump said US and Iranian officials held “very good” and “very productive” talks in New York, while Swiss lawmakers voted 29 to 16 for a plan that could require UBS to hold billions of dollars in additional capital. The diplomatic signal is tentative because the talks’ substance remains unclear, while the UBS vote opens a regulatory path toward higher balance-sheet requirements.
Donald Trump said US officials held a three-hour meeting with Iranian envoys in New York and described it as “very good” and “very productive.” He said another meeting was being planned for the near future, although the substance of the discussions and any concrete progress were not clear.
The diplomatic comments revive the possibility of negotiations producing an off-ramp in the Iran conflict, but they do not establish an agreement or a timetable. In Switzerland, the upper house of parliament voted 29 to 16 for an amendment backed by lawmakers that could ultimately require UBS to hold billions of dollars in additional capital.
The UBS measure directly connects lawmakers to the bank’s funding structure: additional capital requirements would affect the amount of equity UBS must maintain against its business. The vote represents a setback for UBS executives, who had sought a compromise on the rules.
The political and regulatory outcomes remain unsettled. Trump’s description of the New York talks was positive, but the reporting leaves the progress and next steps unclear; the Swiss vote is also part of a process that could ultimately produce higher capital requirements rather than an immediate change to UBS’s balance sheet.
The next markers are a further US-Iran meeting and the remaining Swiss legislative and regulatory steps. For UBS, the eventual capital requirement and its implementation timetable would determine the direct financial effect.
Swiss lawmakers voted 29 to 16 to advance a plan that could require UBS to hold billions in extra capital.
Higher capital requirements could constrain UBS’s balance-sheet flexibility and increase the equity tied to its banking operations, but the vote is not yet a final requirement or an immediate earnings charge. UBS’s older FY2017 figures show $29.2B of revenue and $0.27 of diluted EPS, but they provide limited precision for estimating the effect of a prospective Swiss rule.
The measure could be diluted, rejected in later legislative or regulatory steps, or implemented on terms that require materially less capital than the current proposal suggests.
CoverageSource: Bloomberg Television · Published here WED, SEP 23 · 7:39 AM ET · 2 reports · 1 publisher in this record · latest listed: Bloomberg Television · WED, SEP 23 · 9:14 AM ETHow this is decided →
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The proposed rules may be softened during the remaining process, limiting the effect on UBS’s capital allocation and earnings capacity.
The 29 to 16 vote gives lawmakers a clear mandate to pursue billions of dollars in additional capital requirements for UBS.
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