UBS issues notes worth 2 bln USD to meet new capital requirements

GENEVA, Feb. 22 (Xinhua) -- The Swiss banking giant UBS on Wednesday issued 2 billion U.S. dollars' worth of subordinated loss-absorbing non-dilutive notes to meet the new capital requirements to be introduced by the Swiss government.

The notes, which will qualify as tier 2 capital under Basel III standards and have a maturity of 10 years with an optional call at year Five, will pay a non-deferrable coupon of 7.25 percent.

UBS Group Chief Financial Officer Tom Naratil said, "The deal marks the beginning of an issuance program as we build our loss-absorbing capital base to meet FINMA (the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority) and the Basel Committee requirements for systemically important banks well in advance of the regulatory deadlines."

In order to address the "too big to fail" issue, the Swiss Federal Government took a decision last Wednesday to bring an amendment to the Banking Act into force on March 1, 2012.

The amendment, which was passed by parliament in September 2011, demands systemically important banks to build up more capital, meet more stringent liquidity requirements and ensure better risk diversification by 2018.