UBS will cut 5 500 jobs in one the biggest purges seen so far in the financial markets crisis, as the Swiss wealth-management titan slashes at the investment bank that plunged it into turmoil. UBS also said it has a preliminary deal with United States asset manager BlackRock to sell a -billion portfolio of subprime mortgages.
UBS AG doubled its writedowns from the subprime crisis, parted company with its chairperson and asked shareholders for more emergency capital on Tuesday in a second dramatic attempt to reverse its fortunes. The Swiss bank wrote down an additional -billion on United States real estate and related assets, causing a net loss of 12-billion Swiss francs.
UBS AG, the world’s largest wealth manager, unveiled $3,4-billion in losses, has swept out senior managers and slashed jobs in one of the biggest casualties yet of the worldwide credit crunch. UBS said on Monday it will write down a net four billion Swiss francs ($3,42-billion) in its fixed-income portfolio and elsewhere.