Ermotti Says Talk UBS Threatening to Leave Switzerland ‘Absurd’

UBS Group AG Chief Executive Officer Sergio Ermotti pushed back hard on speculation that the bank is looking to leave Switzerland, saying that the leadership is seeking a compromise on contentious capital rules.

UBS being a Swiss bank “is the best possible outcome and this is what myself and my Chairman Colm Kelleher are working on — the rest is BS,” Ermotti said at JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s European Financials Conference on Thursday. “We never, ever threatened to leave the country. This is absurd.”

The lender’s leadership is trying to convince the Swiss government to water down planned changes to ...