Swiss Offer UBS $60B Bailout

Troubled banking giant will get capital injection, offload bad debts

By Jason Farago, Newser Staff

Posted Oct 16, 2008 6:46 AM CDT

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Swiss Offer UBS $60B Bailout — The Swiss government said Thursday, Oct. 16, 2008 it will recapitalize UBS in exchange for a 9% stake, and will help it offload toxic mortgage-backed securities into a special fund. (AP Photo/Keystone, Alessandro Della Bella, File)

Switzerland became the latest nation to shore up struggling banks, reports the Telegraph, as it bailed out UBS to the tune of $60 billion today. The Swiss central bank will offer UBS a capital injection of $6 billion in exchange for 9% of the company, and it will allow UBS to offload billions in illiquid assets into a specially created fund. Another top Swiss bank, Credit Suisse, also received a lifeline after raising $10 billion from Mideast investors.

UBS has posted $44.2 billion in credit losses and writedowns since the start of the year, the most of any European investment bank. The Swiss bailout will leave UBS with "essentially zero" exposure to subprime and mortgage-backed securities, its CEO said. Shares in both UBS and Credit Suisse were up today after the announcements.
(More UBS stories.)

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