Switzerland has become the first European economy to dispose of its holding of a distressed domestic bank, selling its stake in UBS at a profit of more than $1 billion only a day after agreeing to release data to the U.S. on clients suspected of evading taxes. The New York Times reported the Swiss government had paid 6 Swiss billion francs, ($5.6 billion), into UBS in October to help shore up the bank during the financial crisis in exchange for debt convertible into common stock. Yesterday, the government said it had sold 332.2 million of the bank’s shares to institutional investors at 16.50 Swiss francs each. Including a cash payment of 1.8 billion francs the state is getting from UBS, the proceeds amount to about 7.2 billion francs. A paper from the Bank for International Settlements, released in July, found that the overall amount of resources committed to the bank bailout packages in 11 major economies—including France, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Britain and the U.S.—was €5 trillion, or $7.1 billion.
Switzerland Sells Stake in UBS for a $1BN Profit
Switzerland will sell its more than $1 billion stake in UBS a day after agreeing to release data to the U.S. on clients who evaded American taxes.
August 21, 2009