UBS flags serious concern about new Swiss capital requirements

UBS executives on Wednesday told shareholders that the bank has major concerns about the Swiss government's recently announced plan to hit the country's largest lender with tougher capital requirements.

"We are seriously concerned about some of the discussions related to additional capital requirements," UBS Chairman Colm Kelleher said at the bank's annual general meeting in Basel.

"Additional capital is the wrong remedy."

UBS might need to find $15 billion to $25 billion in additional capital after Switzerland's government laid out plans for how to police banks deemed "too big to fail" to shield the country from a repeat of the collapse of Credit Suisse.

Despite this prospect, Kelleher said UBS remained committed to distributing excess capital to shareholders via dividends and share repurchases.

"UBS is not too big to fail," he said, adding that it is one of the best-capitalized banks in Europe.

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