Switzerland’s biggest bank UBS is set to write down a further US$5 billion in assets amid continuing financial turmoil, Swiss weekly SonntagsZeitung reported on Sunday.
The bank will post the loss in the second half of the year and is likely to inform markets just before its extraordinary general meeting on Oct. 2, the paper said without citing its sources.
Subprime losses will account for US$1 billion of the writedowns, while Alt-A loans — made to borrowers one step up from subprime in credit terms — will yield another US$1 billion in losses.
Investments in monoline insurers — a form of bond insurance — will result in US$2 billion of writedowns and student loans the remaining billion, the paper said.
One of the banks worst hit by the subprime crisis, UBS has written down some US$42.5 billion on its subprime-related assets. For its second quarter, it posted a net loss of 358 million Swiss francs (US$315.8 million), but bank chief Peter Kurer insisted last month it would still return to profitability next year.
“We will be profitable again in 2009,” Kurer told the Swiss Sunday newspaper NZZ am Sonntag.
He said the situation faced by the bank could be compared to the aftermath of a severe storm.
“One must first remove the fallen trees, then tidy up the house and cellar, and in the third phase, bring the shine back to the house,” he said, adding that he believes the bank to be now in the second phase.
WAITING GAME: The US has so far only offered a ‘best rate tariff,’ which officials assume is about 15 percent, the same as Japan, a person familiar with the matter said Taiwan and the US have completed “technical consultations” regarding tariffs and a finalized rate is expected to be released soon, Executive Yuan spokeswoman Michelle Lee (李慧芝) told a news conference yesterday, as a 90-day pause on US President Donald Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs is set to expire today. The two countries have reached a “certain degree of consensus” on issues such as tariffs, nontariff trade barriers, trade facilitation, supply chain resilience and economic security, Lee said. They also discussed opportunities for cooperation, investment and procurement, she said. A joint statement is still being negotiated and would be released once the US government has made
Authorities have detained three former Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TMSC, 台積電) employees on suspicion of compromising classified technology used in making 2-nanometer chips, the Taiwan High Prosecutors’ Office said yesterday. Prosecutors are holding a former TSMC engineer surnamed Chen (陳) and two recently sacked TSMC engineers, including one person surnamed Wu (吳) in detention with restricted communication, following an investigation launched on July 25, a statement said. The announcement came a day after Nikkei Asia reported on the technology theft in an exclusive story, saying TSMC had fired two workers for contravening data rules on advanced chipmaking technology. Two-nanometer wafers are the most
NEW GEAR: On top of the new Tien Kung IV air defense missiles, the military is expected to place orders for a new combat vehicle next year for delivery in 2028 Mass production of Tien Kung IV (Sky Bow IV) missiles is expected to start next year, with plans to order 122 pods, the Ministry of National Defense’s (MND) latest list of regulated military material showed. The document said that the armed forces would obtain 46 pods of the air defense missiles next year and 76 pods the year after that. The Tien Kung IV is designed to intercept cruise missiles and ballistic missiles to an altitude of 70km, compared with the 60km maximum altitude achieved by the Missile Segment Enhancement variant of PAC-3 systems. A defense source said yesterday that the number of
Taiwanese exports to the US are to be subject to a 20 percent tariff starting on Thursday next week, according to an executive order signed by US President Donald Trump yesterday. The 20 percent levy was the same as the tariffs imposed on Vietnam, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh by Trump. It was higher than the tariffs imposed on Japan, South Korea and the EU (15 percent), as well as those on the Philippines (19 percent). A Taiwan official with knowledge of the matter said it is a "phased" tariff rate, and negotiations would continue. "Once negotiations conclude, Taiwan will obtain a better
RSS