(Bloomberg) -- UBS Group AG Chairman Colm Kelleher held talks with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent about potentially moving the bank's headquarters to the US amid the ongoing uncertainty over Switzerland's upcoming capital reforms, the Financial Times reported.
The two privately discussed what a move could look like, with the Trump administration "receptive" to welcoming Switzerland's largest bank, the newspaper said, citing three people familiar with the conversations that it didn't identify.
UBS has called Switzerland's post-Credit Suisse reform of capital regulations, which could result in its requirement rising by some $26 billion, "extreme." Bloomberg reported in March that the bank was considering moving its headquarters out of the country as a response.
The talks reflect what executives see as their fiduciary duty to explore all possible options if the Swiss capital debate does not turn in their favor. UBS shares were little changed at 14:06 p.m. in Zurich.
Swiss lawmakers gave a sign of support for the country's largest bank earlier this month, when an influential committee criticized some of the government's plans for the matter.
"As we have said repeatedly, we want to continue to operate successfully as a global bank out of Switzerland," UBS said in a statement.
Kelleher declined to comment. Spokespeople for the Treasury didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.
UBS has been looking at its options with regard to the Swiss capital issue since earlier this year, while lobbying lawmakers to water down the government's key proposals. At the heart of the reforms is a requirement that UBS would have to fully back all its foreign subsidiaries, including its US wealth management and investment banking operation, with capital at the parent bank.
For the worst-case scenario, options theoretically on the table range from the dramatic — a merger or acquisition deal with a non-Swiss bank allowing a change in domicile and escape from the oncoming rules — to the more mundane, such as a range of technical tweaks that can put just enough capital away over the coming years.
Bloomberg reported in September that UBS leadership is generally less inclined toward radical moves, for now. A vote on the capital reforms isn't likely before 2027 at the earliest. Yet a relocation would offer the Swiss bank — the world's largest wealth manager outside the US — some benefits.
The US is currently in a deregulation phase which is set to lower the capital requirements for its biggest banks. The shift under the Trump administration could release some $2.6 trillion in asset capacity, boosting economic activity, according to consultancy Alvarez & Marsal. Kelleher has been open in the past about wanting to buy a wealth-management firm in the US which would boost UBS's scale in the biggest wealth market.
Meanwhile Switzerland is moving faster than many of its international peers in implementing the Basel III regulations. Its bank regulator, Finma, has stepped up its activity following the 2023 collapse of Credit Suisse and its subsequent purchase by UBS.
--With assistance from Daniel Flatley and Laura Noonan.
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