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Benedicte Gravrand, Opalesque London:
Last week, Swiss private bank and FoHFs house Union Bancaire Privée (UBP) announced a net profit of CHF216m (US$209m) for the 2009 financial year. This is around half of its consolidated net profit of CHF431m for 2008 - which itself showed a 15.6% drop on 2007. AuM totalled CHF75bn ($72bn) at the end of 2009, against CHF100bn ($95bn) at the end of 2008, a 25% decrease "as a result of the contraction in the institutional and alternative-asset-management industries and the adverse effects of exchange rates" (details here).
UBP's results were partially offset by the CHF6.7bn ($6.5bn) in net capital inflows from private clients, with a significant proportion from emerging markets. The balance sheet total reached CHF20bn and the return on shareholder equity for the 2009 financial year is 12%. With a Tier 1 capital ratio of 26.4%, which is more than three times the minimum legal requirement of 8%, UBP claims to be one of the best-capitalised banks in Switzerland. Guy de Picciotto, UBP's CEO, said: "In the first half of the year, we concentrated on preserving our clients' capital and reducing costs. Subsequently, we redeveloped our business activity by reinforcing our management and strengthening our risk-management abilities."
Rohan Sant and Jérôme Koechlin, communications of...................... To view our full article Click here
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